The Traitor Amongst You
by Celestial Phantom
Summary: Small town farm girl dreamt of becoming a magician, but one chance encounter with the Thief King as a boy changed her life forever. Years later, they meet again and a new life begins for the two of them. But no one said life with the Thief King would be easy. Thief BakuraxOC
1. Chapter I: The Thief Boy

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Franchise nor do I own Egypt :P

AN: It does say Thief BakuraxOC, but there is some AtemxOC, MahadxOC, IsisxOC and ShadaxOC later on in the story. I will make a disclaimer of who owns what OC later. The Akhet Items are entirely made up; it will explain briefly during the story but to sum it up now: the Akhet Items are nine items created by light magic (not related to the Millennium Spellbook) and are wielded by the Queen's Court. They were created before the Millennium Items (unknown exactly when) and are not as strong; where the Millennium Items are used to judge the souls/kas of people and protect Egypt, the Akhet Items are more for resolving issues relating to kas/animals.

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 _In ancient times, seven items were created from the shadows and darkness, breeding despair and hatred. These items were known as the Millennium Items, used for the protection of Egypt, though one must be wary for if these items fell into the wrong hands, it could bring about the destruction of Egypt and the world._

 _In ancient times, nine items were created from the light and love of people, the good magic within the world was bounded into these items. Though not as strong as their shadowy brethren, they were used to safeguard the Queen of Egypt though one should be wary for if these items were used about the wrong way, it could bring about chaos and lost._

Chapter I: The Thief Boy

"I don't understand," a little girl with soft amber hair said. Her hair was cut even into a hime cut. She wore a light creamish tan tunic that had a brown sash around the waist and a headpiece adorning her plain being. Her eyes were a chocolate brown color. She was sitting on the wooden floor in a small bricked house at the foot of an older man whose black hair was beginning to gray. He wore a plain hooded robe and sat in a chair at the dining table. He smiled at the girl and patted her head.

They were in the dining room that doubled as a small kitchen with one window to look out at the crops and sheep grazing outside. There were two doors, one next to the window and another from the back of the table. An empty archway led into the small living room that was barely furnished with a simple rug and boxes of scrolls.

"One day you will, Meskhenet," she grabbed his hand and looked at him uncertainly. "For now, focus on your magic."

A man in robes of white and gold came through the front door; a headdress covered his hair in gold and a veil of white. His black hair was faintly visible beneath his headdress. He had an angry look on his face and he regarded Meskhenet with something of contempt. "Yaqeen, you should have left a while ago. The sheep are not going to sell themselves." Yaqeen merely laughed and stood up, patting his daughter's head once more. "Tend to the horses. Your mother will be back soon." The man left along with her father and Meskhenet sighed, heavily.

She went out the backdoor and filled in a bucket of water from the well. She clumsily took it over to the small stables stationed at the back of her house. The stables had a crudely made roof to guard the horses from the sun, it was built entirely of wood and furnished with hay and feed holders for the beasts. There were only two: Naseem and Kanval, both were brown with Naseem's hair being black while Kanval had a large bald and blaze marking on her face along with white stockings on her legs.

"Tend to the horses… I am supposed to be studying magic. I will not be a magician at this pace!" she poured the water into the basin and absentmindedly entered the stables through the wooden half of a door that anyone could literally jump over if they were nimble enough. She picked up some apples from a basket on a crate and walked over to Naseem who snorted at her. "One day, Master Zaim will know just how great of a magician I truly can be!" Naseem whined and stomped his foot. "You're right. He has to recognize me as a person first."

Kanval reared up on her hind legs and neighed loudly. "What is wrong, girl?" Meskhenet approached Kanval as she settled down and snorted, neighing a little. Meskhenet saw what was wrong: there was a boy at the foot of Kanval. He must've fallen when Kanval rose. He had a plain light tan long sleeved tunic on with messy light gray hair. He got up and spotted Meskhenet, he looked a little annoyed, but grabbed the reins of Kanval roughly.

Reins? Kanval hadn't been tacked up. She realized that the boy was trying to steal Kanval. "What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously. Maybe she should call out for help… no, Father was probably already on his way to the marketplace and Momma wouldn't be home for a while. The only other person here was Master Zaim and she shuddered at the thought of calling him for help. No, she could do this herself.

"Stay back," the boy said, backing away as Meskhenet entered the stall.

"You can't steal Kanval, don't you know that stealing is wrong?" she approached the boy and although he didn't move back, he was arching away from her. He was taller than her, he could've simply pushed her aside and took off but he stood his ground. "Leave before I call for help."

"If you wanted help, you would've already called for help. I'm taking this horse," he said and awkwardly moved around Meskhenet then started to lead Kanval out of her stall. Meskhenet quickly ran over and grabbed Kanval's reins. "Let go!"

"You let go!" she slapped his hands off the reins. Kanval reared up again, realizing that the boy was right in Kanval's path; Meskhenet shoved him into a pile of hay some feet away. He angrily got up quickly while Kanval made a fuss as Meskhenet fumbled for the reins, trying to calm the horse. "Stop, girl!"

"What's going on?" Master Zaim's voice called. He sounded like he was coming this way. Meskhenet looked at the boy and shoved him back in the hay much to his protests.

"Stay there!" she hissed. Master Zaim came outside of Kanval's stall and looked around. He whistled softly and Kanval came over to him, seemingly calm now.

"I told you to tend to the horses." he looked at the basin next to him and clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Stupid girl, why do you never listen? Do I have to tell you what to do in details?! Fetch the horses more water, fill the feed with hay; have you not done this for a long while!" he shouted and Meskhenet flinched at each word he spat out. She didn't bother looking him in the eyes, she was too frightened to.

"Yes, Master…"

"You will never be a magician if you cannot follow simple orders. Get to it now or-" he didn't get to finish. Naseem kicked his stall door down and made a mad dash out. Atop his back was the thief boy. Meskhenet turned to the pile of hay and saw that he was gone from it. _Oh no…_

"What are you waiting for? Go after him!" Meskhenet didn't have time to fully process what Zaim had asked her to do. She was too scared to stay where he was and quickly mounted Kanval and took off after the boy, wanting just as bad to get away from that place as he had. She nudged Kanval in the sides to pick up speed.

"Stop!" she called. Everything was happening so fast, what exactly was wrong with this day? Hadn't Father just been telling her about some items then the horses and the boy and now what was she doing? No, she needed to get Naseem back and prove Master Zaim she was good for something.

They ran all the way from her home through the streets of the small town, people scrambled and screamed to get out of the way. They toppled some carts and boxes as their horses jumped over them to avoid crashing into. Meskhenet whipped the reins of Kanval and moved her closer to Naseem. The boy looked at her angrily as she tried to reach out for Naseem's reins… but she realized that the boy had been riding Naseem without any equipment. Naseem picked up speed and Meskhenet looked in front of her, she nearly ran her horse into a stone building. She halted her horse that whinnied. She soothed Kanval down a bit before tapping her into a running gallop again. She looked back at the town; it was a mess because of them. Her family's farm was inching away slowly into the distance, growing smaller as she continued to chase after the boy. She needed to get Naseem back. She continued to chase after the boy for quite a while; the sun was beginning to set. Neither one of them was relenting but Naseem was slowly losing speed.

"Give up!" the boy shouted at her. She ignored him and again brought Kanval close to Naseem. The boy tried using Naseem to shove Kanval back but Meskhenet jumped on him, sending the boy, herself and Naseem tumbling down a sand dune. She landed on top of the boy and held him down.

"Hah!" she said triumphantly. The boy looked angry and grabbed her wrists but they both turned to Naseem as he got up and took off. Meskhenet slipped out of the boy's grasps and tried to run after Naseem but he was already a good distance away. "Wait! Naseem, come back! Please!"

"Look what you've done," the boy spat angrily, getting up and brushing himself of sand. What she had done?! She turned to him angrily and stalked over to him. He moved away but she came closer and slapped his arm once then again and again before she shoved him a little. He didn't seem affected by her hits but nonetheless didn't seem to want to be near her.

"What I've done?! What have _you_ done?! You tried to steal my horse! No, you did steal my horse!" she shouted at him.

"You should've given up!" he yelled back at her, grabbing her wrist. She slapped his hand away and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You should have not stolen my horse! You… y-you thief!"

"Is that all you can come up with?" he laughed and moved near her, he would've head-butted her if she hadn't moved away. She heard a hissing noise and turned to the sound and saw a snake slithering near them.

"Ahhhh!" she shrieked, falling down on her rear and inching back. She kicked sand at the snake that was closing the distance between them. The boy kicked the snake aside like it was nothing. Meskhenet, however, noticed that there wasn't just one snake but multiple snakes heading their direction. She quickly got up and moved away, the snakes were inching closer. "S-stop!" she shouted, squinting her eyes shut and blocking her face as if that would protect her. She didn't hear any hissing noises so she opened her eyes and saw that the snakes were frozen in place. Confused, she waved her hand in front of one and saw that they really were frozen. "I did it! I used magic!" She turned to the boy but she saw that he had already run up the sand dune and mounted Kanval who hadn't run away like Naseem. She was surprised, he was really fast. "Wait!" but he didn't and took off. _That jerk!_

She kicked sand at the snake and crouched down, drawing Horus's eye in the sand. Suddenly, she heard hoof beats and turned around and saw that the boy had come back. He offered his hand to her and she awkwardly took it, he pulled her up behind him and made Kanval run out the sand dune. "Thank you."

"Hmm," the boy merely said. Meskhenet thought that his hair looked nice, she subconsciously touched it and he moved away. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, sorry! Uh… I—I have to get back home!" she said, trying to change the subject so as to not explain her actions. _What am I doing?_

"I'm not going back."

"W-what?" so where exactly were they going? What was he going to do, dump her in another town? "But I have to get back!"

"They'll lock me up if I go back." She couldn't believe this, he seemed nice when he came back for her but now she wasn't even sure why if he wasn't going to take her home. She pounded his back with her fists. "S-stop!"

"Take me home!" she continued to pound on his back. But he still protested. She eventually stopped which he seemed relieved of. They traveled in the desert night in silence. It was getting kind of chilly. She leaned near him, arms tucked near her chest. Kanval was beginning to slow down; it must've been tiring for her, running long hours and carrying the two for who knows how long. "We should let Kanval rest."

The boy didn't say anything but he halted Kanval and climbed down. Meskhenet jumped down and went over to the front of Kanval and patted her muzzle. Kanval seemed really tired, she snorted softly. "That's right… I had not given you any water or food." She wished she had listened to Master Zaim, if she had been paying attention Kanval wouldn't have been so tired. Naseem also must've been tired. Who knew what happened to him. Master Zaim was going to kill her when he found out that she probably killed Naseem.

"Let her rest for a while then we need to find water."

Meskhenet nodded. "Okay…" Kanval laid down in sternal recumbence and nodded off for a few minutes before waking again and repeating. Meskhenet occasionally stroked Kanval's neck. Both she and the boy were sitting next to Kanval, he had his arms cross and was looking the other way. What a crazy day…

"I never told you my name," she said suddenly. The boy reluctantly looked at her.

"Why? It is not like we're friends," he said.

Meskhenet looked at him confused. She wasn't sure if they were going to be friends or not but she didn't like calling him boy or thief. It sounded degrading and reminded her too much of how Master Zaim referred to her by everything but her name. "Well… I still would like to know your name so I can call you by it if I need to." He merely looked at her. "My name is Meskhenet."

He still didn't say anything, but he was looking her over. She swayed her feet as she waited for him to say something, anything. "Father said it's the same name as the goddess who created our kas."

"Is that really your home?" he asked suddenly. Why was he asking about her home? She felt a little sad thinking about it. She wasn't sure whether it was homesickness or because the place just made her sad? It was where Father and Momma were at along with all her failures as a magician and a girl. Her heart hurt, thinking of home. "That man wasn't very kind."

"Oh, Master Zaim…" this was the first time she had ever been away from home. It was refreshing but lonely. She looked at him; his clothes were dirty and tattered at some places. She was being ungrateful. She had a place to call home, a place to return to regardless of her failures or not, Father and Momma were there. Where were his parents? He was stealing like some wild animal which must've meant his family was either too poor or not here… she looked at him. He must've been so lonely. Somehow, looking at him, she wanted to hug him but felt that would be awkward. "Master Zaim is my master in magic."

"Magic…" he said. She nodded.

"I want to be a court magician! Father hired Master Zaim to teach me magic."

"Why a court magician?"

"Hmm?" she thought about it, "Because I want people to laugh and love magic! There is good magic in the world and I want people to see it!"

He suddenly burst out laughing but when he spoke he sounded quiet and bitter. "Magic is for power. There is no such thing as good magic."

She thought about it. Magic was used predominantly for power, but it could be used for entertainment too. "Then maybe I just want power…" she muttered.

"You seem pretty weak to harness any power." She slapped his arm and he moved away though he seemed to enjoy her reaction. He got up and stretched. "We need to get going." A loud rumbling sound was heard and the boy placed a hand on his stomach and looked at it. He probably hadn't gotten a good meal in a while. She got up and Kanval followed suit.

"Maybe we should look for some food," she said and they both looked around. Nothing but sand everywhere, no village was in sight. "How do we find a village or town?"

The boy didn't reply. "We should find an oasis or some sort of water source." He started walking in a random direction. Meskhenet grabbed the reins of Kanval and followed after him. She wondered if he knew where they were going. A feeling of lost washed over her, what if they got stuck here? They would wind up dead and Father and Momma would never know what happened to them. She wished she could just magically summon food and water but she knew that wasn't possible.

Time passed but everything seemed the same, no sounds but the occasional skittering of animals and the breathing of Kanval. The sky was a nice color of dark blue dotted with stars. It was a nice night out, but not when you were tired, lost and hungry. Meskhenet didn't know how long they had been walking but the boy had been keeping a steady pace in front of her but somehow he looked like he was getting further away. Her feet hurt and were freezing from the cold sand below. She hugged herself, trying to block the cold and hunger out but it was really strong. Kanval had come to stop, following Meskhenet's lead. She shuddered. The boy called out something but she didn't hear him.

The ground came into view and the cold sand hugged her body. She felt weak and cold. The boy came running to her and shook her but her vision blurred and everything went black. The boy hadn't realized it himself but he too was extremely tired, he passed out shortly afterwards.

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I don't know what I'm doing :O, this story is long but I thought I tried this out. First Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfic; please read and review and help this sucker out!


	2. Chapter II: The Snake Sorcerer

Chapter II:The Snake Sorcerer

Meskhenet moaned and opened her eyes, awakening to a cold feeling of hard metal. She jolted up and looked around. She no longer was in the open area of sand but in a small confined cage. She moved closer to the bars and peered outside. There were adult men gathered around a fire, laughing and eating. The smell of food wafted through the air and she held her grumbling stomach. _Not now…_

Where were Kanval and the boy? She couldn't see far in the night but vaguely spotted a wagon with another cage. Was the boy there? She didn't know but she thought she should call out to him. _Ugh, he didn't tell me his name!_ "Psst!" she said in a whisper, hoping for a response but nothing came. "Are you there?"

"I'm here," a faint voice said back. She sighed with relief.

"What happened?"

"We've been captured by traders," the boy said. "Slave traders," that didn't sound good. "They sold your horse."

"What?!" she shouted and one man turned to her cage. She placed her hands over her mouth and shrunk back into the shadows. The man merely regarded her cage before going back to eating. Now she lost both horses! She wanted to cry. The loss of Naseem was enough but now Kanval too? They had been in her family for quite some time but the thought of losing both in the same night made her feel terrible. She wanted to go and die somewhere.

"You've been out for a couple of days," the boy said. Days? Wasn't it the same night? "We have to get out of here tonight."

Was he waiting for her to wake up or was it just a coincidence? Whatever the reason, he was right, they couldn't stay here otherwise she would never see her family again. "How do we get out?"

"What's all the ruckus?" a man came over to her cage, banging on her bars with a wooden stick. "You're awake, huh? Hello! The mouse is awake. Get her some food, can't have her passing out at the auction…" He looked over at the other cage and smiled. "You've been awfully quiet. Is something the matter?" Auction? They were going to sell them! But wait, did that mean they were near a town?

"Do not provoke him. Feed the girl and get back here." someone else called from the fire. The man in front of her cage grumbled but took off. A feeling of relief washed over Meskhenet. That man gave her the creeps. She leaned in at the bars and tried to see the other cage but no matter how much she strained herself, she couldn't see the boy. The man from earlier started coming back, she moved back. Wasn't there any spell she could use to help her? She tried muttering freeze or stop but nothing happened. The man opened her cage door and sneered down at her. He half threw half put down two bowls, one had water and the other had some odd looking soup. But the minute he closed the door, Meskhenet snatched up the two bowls and drained them down. They were cold and bitter tasting, but it was a lot better to have something in your stomach than nothing.

The man apparently went to pick on the boy but the boy didn't say anything and she couldn't exactly hear them. "L-leave him alone," she said rather weakly but the man went to her and glared. He spat on her and she squeaked a bit at the cold saliva. The men talked until who knows how long but eventually most fell asleep with only two men keeping watch. Fortunately, one man never turned to the cages, unfortunately another kept checking on them every few minutes-it wasn't the same man from before but Meskhenet wasn't sure that was a good thing. He looked fierce and just about ready to kill anyone even children.

She didn't have a plan and felt utterly useless. The boy didn't speak to her so she didn't even know what his plan was-if he had any. After the twelfth or so checkup, Meskhenet went over to the bars and tried looking at the other cage. Was the boy still there? It was awfully quiet. The man checking up on the cages came up to her and glared.

"What are you looking at?"

"Oh!" she racked her brain for something. "I-I was just wondering where we are."

"Hmm…" the man shook his head and went away. There was a rustling sound from a nearby dead plant, both men approached with caution, swords drawn. Meskhenet hoped it was a snake or crocodile to eat them.

Suddenly the boy came into view and starting picking at her lock. How did he get out? When did he get out? She wanted to ask him, but he signaled her to be quiet. Her lock came open with a click but neither man seemed to notice, however when the boy pulled back the door, a loud groaning metal sound echoed through the night. That got both the men's attention.

"Stop right there!" one man called as they started to run towards the children. The boy grabbed Meskhenet's wrists and pulled her out of the cage.

"Come on!" he said as he ran the opposite direction of the men. Suddenly one man screamed and fell down. The other man stopped to look at his companion but when he went to check on him, he too fell over. The boy looked back and yanked Meskhenet forward. She saw that one man who was sleep had blood trickling down his ankle. It looked strangely like a snake bite. She really wished there wasn't any snakes around. "Oof!'

The boy ran straight into a shirtless man who looked very thin. Some ribs could be seen and he was very tall with dirty brown hair, a snake staff in one hand and a very hungry look. "Looks like I found you!" he said in a sing-song way. He grabbed the boy's tunic and Meskhenet's arm. "I've been looking everywhere for you two." he laughed like a maniac.

"Let go!" the boy said. Meskhenet voiced the same protest but the thin man crouched and inched towards Meskhenet.

"Here's the little witch who froze my snakes! I'm so glad I found you. You know, I am so hungry." He looked the two of them over and frowned. "Well, there's a good thing there's two of you. You don't have much flesh on you."

"But we're human!" the boy said, sounding both appalled and frightened.

Meskhenet screamed. "I think he's serious!" she whimpered. The man laughed.

"I am Apep the Snake Sorcerer! And you shall have the great honor of dining with me or rather me dining on you! Ah haha hah-ahhhh!" he screamed when the boy kicked him in the shin and then grabbed Meskhenet and ran for it,

Apep, however, was taller than them and therefore had longer strides to outrun them. He quickly caught up to them, pulling the boy by his tunic again and Meskhenet by her hair. She screamed. Master Zaim used to do the same with her when she didn't do what he asked of her, but Apep was a lot rougher than Master Zaim. She fell on her knees and groped the floor for something, anything. She found a rock and slammed it hard against Apep's hand. He yelped and let her go; she then chucked the rock straight at his face. He didn't have much of a balance as he fell backward, practically unconscious. The boy and Meskhenet took off at full speed while whatever snakes hidden around the camp came slithering towards their master. There were a lot of snakes.

"Don't look back," the boy said. Meskhenet decided to heed his words and ran without looking back at the camp. Meskhenet didn't know where they were going or where they were, but there were a lot of rocks and if she saw correctly through the darkness, pyramids were in the distance. They hid into a dark cave within some rocks when they started to tire. They waited in silence, trying to quiet their breathing. When no sounds came, the boy went to peek outside. He came back a little later.

"I think we lost him," he leaned back on the cave wall and gave out a loud sigh. Meskhenet rubbed her feet.

"What a freak," she said. "I can't believe he wanted to eat us."

The boy shook his head in disbelief then wiped sweat from his brow. "I think we're in Mn Nefer or at least near it."

Meskhenet looked at him questionably. "W-where's that?"

"It's near Tanis, I think."

"Oh no! We're so far from home! How are we going to get back?" She wondered if Master Zaim or Father was looking for her. Momma was probably worried sick. "Should we find someone and ask for help? I've never been this far from home." In fact, she had never been away from her. "I think if we find the Nile, we can follow it."

"We should find some food first and then figure things out from there," the boy said.

"Okay…"

"Can you…" she looked at him but the boy paused. "You can do magic, right? Can't you turn us invisible or something?"

She shook her head. "I'm just learning the basics and I'm not even sure there's a spell like that."

The boy and she didn't know exactly what to do. They both were hungry and tired, but too worried that the cave wouldn't provide protection from them should Apep pursue them. However, they decided to go further into the cave so the darkness could provide cover. They both eventually passed out and when morning arose so did they. They exited the cave and the boy stretched.

Now that it was morning, Meskhenet could see much clearer now. There was a town in the distance that'd probably take them half a day to reach, pass the town there were pyramids—that's what she saw last night. She vaguely remembered Momma telling her that the pyramids were tombs for pharaohs of the past. Whatever their use was, they were good landmarks to know your location.

The boy didn't say anything but started walking towards town. Meskhenet quickly followed after him. She realized she should probably thank him for getting them out of there. "Thank you…" she said but he didn't reply. "Thank you!"

"I heard you the first time."

"Then give me some indication that you're listening! You're walking too far ahead for me to see if you registered what I said." She should probably keep in mind that he was a thief and probably had no etiquette but even still…

He stopped and turned around. "I'm not that far ahead," she walked into him. "Look, we're not friends. We just needed to get out and we did. We go into town and go our separate ways. You can go back to your farm and I'll go north."

Meskhenet pouted and pushed passed the boy. "The way I see it is that we're becoming friends."

"What?"

"Yes, I think you need a friend or want a friend. That's the second time you came to my rescue." She turned around and started walking backwards. The boy kept close behind her, not bothering to look at her.

"Saving someone doesn't mean I want a friend…" he whispered.

"Well… okay, maybe not but you're lonely so you came back for me at the snake pit and you didn't want to escape on your own."

"You don't know what you're talking about. Let's just get some food."

"You still haven't told me your name."

"I still don't see the point too."

He was being so stubborn. She knew he didn't want to be alone. He didn't need to say it, but she could somehow feel it… he was lonely. The whole walk to the town was rather silent, at times she would ask for his name but he'd just ignore her. She got too tired to talk and became quiet, pretty soon he was in front of her again. They were just at the town's edge when someone ran past them, shoving them both on the ground.

"Watch it!" the boy yelled, but the person didn't even look back. The boy got to his feet and dusted himself. Meskhenet looked behind them and quickly got up. She grabbed the boy and pulled him to the side just as some soldiers came running after the person.

"What's going on?" she asked but the boy merely looked on after them.

"It doesn't matter. We need to find some food."

"Right…" she wondered what the soldiers were up to and if that's what they did when they weren't fighting or maybe they were chasing a criminal. Didn't soldiers just train for war? Well… as far as she knew, Egypt wasn't at war.

The boy shook her. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yes! Where do we find some food? Come to think of it… how are we going to get food? We don't have any items of trade or money," the boy looked at her surprised.

"We're not buying…" the boy whispered. She suddenly realized that he meant they were going to steal. But stealing was wrong! Maybe he was a thief, but not her. If Father found out that she stole, he would be furious. Master Zaim would probably kill her if he could.

"We can't steal!"

"Shh! Well, how else are we going to eat? Would you rather take someone else's money and then buy food?"

"No."

"Then we have to steal," Meskhenet really didn't like this idea but her stomach growled as if to agree with the boy. What if they got caught? Wouldn't they get their hands cut off? Wouldn't they be thrown into prison? "Just follow my lead."

He went deeper into town and Meskhenet followed after him. There were a lot of street vendors, many selling fruits and vegetables, certain vendors had other items for sale such as clothing and jewelry but of course, the poor people weren't interested in those as they couldn't afford such fine items. The boy looked around and nodded towards a man selling some bags. Meskhenet wasn't quite sure what to do but the boy took off into the crowd of people. What did he want her to do?

She meekly walked over to the man. He was a large man, but he looked like he could gut a sheep open with his bare hands. "Excuse me…" the man looked down at her. She wondered where the boy took off to. "Are we near the Nile?"

"Hmm?" the man raised an eyebrow at her.

"I—I'm new here and my…" she didn't want to lie but she didn't think anyone would pay much attention to her if she didn't mention an adult figure. "Master was wondering if we were close to the Nile so he could go fishing…."

"On foot it'll take about five hours to get to the Nile, but if you head directly east of the pyramids, you should find yourself straight there from this town," the man said. She was relieved he answered her but he looked annoyed. "I must get back to my customers." He said just as a woman and man came over. Meskhenet looked around and spotted the boy in an alleyway not too far away, he signaled her over.

"T—thank you, sir!" she took off towards the boy. He had a large messenger over his shoulder. He must've taken it from the man's vendor when the man wasn't looking. "Why did you take off like that? I didn't know what you wanted me to do!"

"You were supposed to distract him, that's all."

"That's all? You didn't say anything to me…"

"You did it before," she looked at him uncertainly. "Back with the slave traders, you distracted that man when I unlocked my cage." She hadn't actually been trying to distract the slave trader. She just wanted to know where they were. "We have a bag now so we can get lots of food."

"What do we get?"

"Any food is fine, pick out busy places though so the sellers are distracted by their customers. Fruit and vegetables don't last long but they should do for today. Try not to get caught." He took off the bag and gave it to her. She took it hesitantly. She wondered if he was going to take off again but he said, "Stay close to me."

They wandered the streets, choosing certain vendors to steal from. The marketplace was busy and at times she lost sight of the boy but he always came back to make sure she was behind him. After losing sight of him for like the sixth time, the boy grabbed her wrist and pulled her along. She kept going over that what they were doing wasn't wrong but it felt wrong and it made her feel icky. She didn't like stealing but the boy did it so naturally like it was just second nature to him. She wondered how long had he been doing this and why.

The boy took a couple of apples while they passed a fruit vendor, he gave it to her and she stuffed them in the bag. He picked out all sorts of food from vegetables to fruit to some cooked meat (she didn't like the look or smell of them) to bread. They eventually wandered over to where the drinks were sold, but there were so many vendors with many different jars. There weren't any words or anything that would tell them what drink was what but one vendor had a lot of people so that's where they headed. Meskhenet tugged at the bag's strap. It was getting rather heavy.

"I don't think this can carry anymore," she whispered to the boy.

"Okay, but we need water," he said. She wasn't so sure about this. They wouldn't be able to put the jar into the bag, meaning they would have to carry it. The boy went over to the side where certain jars were placed on a table for display. The aroma from the jars smelled weird, kind of fruity actually. The boy went to grab a jar that wasn't too big. Meskhenet peered from behind the boy and saw that the seller was handing out jars to whoever had money. He wasn't looking this way.

Suddenly a shadow loomed over them and she turned to look. It was a man with a turban; he was looking down at them. She pulled on the boy's sleeve just as he had picked up the jar. He turned around. "Where are your parents?" the man asked, narrowing his eyes at them.

"Run," the boy said and they both took off.

"Thieves!" the man shouted. It didn't seem to do anything except catch the customers' attention and the seller's who started yelling at them. Some other people in the marketplace seemed to notice them too which wasn't good if the word spread then the authorities might hear too. They nearly ran into a woman carrying a water jar. The boy pulled Meskhenet along until they rounded a corner into an alleyway. The boy made sure no one followed and then pushed Meskhenet further into the alleyway.

They both were panting. Meskhenet took the bag off and fell to the floor. The boy sat down too and placed the jar down. "This… this should last us some days," the boy panted. He picked up the bag and opened it. He handed Meskhenet an apple and loaf of bread. He took a loaf of bread for himself too. They ate like they hadn't seen food in days—which technically they hadn't. When they had some food in their stomachs, they moved deeper into the town, heading towards the pyramids. They avoided people as much as possible in case anyone recognized them from the drink vendors.

"If we head east to the pyramids, we can get to the Nile, right?" the boy asked, talking with his mouth full.

"That's what he said." She looked at the boy. Didn't he want to split up? He said he was headed north… "Aren't you heading towards the north?"

The boy didn't say anything at first though he looked a little embarrassed. "You need to get home first."

"Oh, but where are you going? You have some place to get too?" the boy shrugged. "Why north?"

"I just want to get away," he said quietly.

"From what?"

"Just want to get away…"

They passed some soldiers. Meskhenet looked at them but the boy pulled her along. "You keep looking at the soldiers. Do you want to marry one?"

"What? No!" she had no idea where he came up with that but that wasn't at all why she was staring at the soldiers. "My brother joined the army…"

"I didn't know you had a brother," he said. She thought that statement was rather stupid. He didn't know anything about her and she knew nothing of him except he was a thief—a really good one.

"I haven't seen him in a long time. He left a while back but he was my best friend! I used to go with him when he shepherded the sheep but he left… and I never saw him again. Now I have to tend the crops with Momma when she's home."

"Does he work for the pharaoh?" the boy asked a hint of bitterness in his voice. She looked at him and he averted his gaze.

"The army is the pharaoh's so I think so?" she wasn't entirely certain. The boy frowned. Some of the soldiers looked at them but they hurried along so none of them would think of talking to them.

"Have you seen a little ra—boy, his hair is as white as a sheep's and there should be a little girl about the same age, long brownish hair," that voice for some reason stuck out among the crowd. The boy apparently noticed it too. The voice was a bit manically but very light. The two children turned to where the voice was coming from. It was Apep!

He was talking to a woman and asking about them. He was still looking for them! What was his deal? If he wanted food he could just buy them from the various vendors around the streets! Meskhenet looked around and pulled the boy towards an alleyway between two houses. She heard some hissing sounds and saw a snake slithering towards them from Apep. It stopped and raised half its body; it was looking right at them. It turned around and went right back at Apep.

"I'm so tired of running…" Meskhenet whined but nonetheless the two ran. They ran, the boy was lagging behind probably because he had to hold onto the jar. Meskhenet stopped and took the jar, stuffing it into the bag. Since they ate some of the food, there was some room, though the jar popped out a bit because of the shape. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the street back where there were people. Maybe someone could help them?

She went over to a man who was looking at some jewelry. She tugged at his sleeve. "Excuse me, sir, there's this man and he's—" the man yanked away and told her to go away. She went over to a woman but the woman ignored her. She went from person to person but no one paid them any heed. Finally, the boy pulled her back.

"Stop, it's no use." Meskhenet looked at him. She let go of his hand and ran over to a soldier.

"Sir, please help, there's this weird man—"

"Go home to your parents, girl. I'm on official business right now," the soldier said, walking away.

"Why doesn't anyone help us?"

"Because we look like a pair of filthy orphans… we're scum to them," she looked behind her. The boy clenched his hands but he stomped over to her and took her hand. "They won't help us. We have to lose him on our own."

All she had ever known was her farm, her family. Master Zaim was the cruelest person she knew, but now she knew why. He was a product of this world. Her farm was one tiny portion of what the real world was. The world was cruel and the boy knew it. He was a thief because the world made him a thief. He had lived in this world far longer than she had.

"You're right…"

"Well, hello, children!" Apep said from behind them. What other people were there moved away from the weird sorcerer, paying no heed to Apep and the two children. Meskhenet squeezed the boy's hand and he moved in front of her. "I have been looking for you since our last encounter. Please, do not try to run for it is futile."

A soldier came over and for a moment, Meskhenet thought he would help but he merely told Apep to stop disturbing the peace. "I am so sorry, sir, I will just take my two children and go." He grabbed the boy by the arm and Meskhenet's wrist. They both struggled against him but he had a really tight grip.

"No! We don't know who this is!"

"Shh, children, your mother will be so worried," he dragged them away. "Stop struggling, you little rats!"

"Let go!"

"There's plenty of food here, go eat those!" the boy said as he tried prying Apep's hand off but Apep shoved him to the ground, throwing Meskhenet atop the boy. He looked at the bag she had and frowned.

"I have no appetite for those useless seed products. What I want are powerful sorcerers. Yes, yes! Every sorcerer must be flayed and cooked! I will become stronger should I consume the flesh of these said sorcerers! Ah hah ha-ha!"

Meskhenet was pretty certain that wasn't how magic worked. Father always told her that hard work is what made you stronger. But there wasn't any reasoning with Apep. He seemed like a totally nut job.

"What powerful sorcerer?" the boy asked. Apep stopped laughing and pointed an accusing finger at Meskhenet.

"You!"

"Me?!"

"You froze all my snakes. That's a very powerful spell that only truly powerful sorcerers are able to cast."

"What?" the boy looked at her. "That is a very simple spell and one of the first ones sorcerers learn to master."

"Lies! I know a powerful sorcerer when I see one," he jabbed a bony finger at her shoulder.

"Well then you must be blind because she's no good in magic," the boy said.

She looked at the boy. "What? I—I mean, yes! I have no magical talent. You have mistaken me for someone else. You must use your time to find truly skilled sorcerers." Apep did not look convinced, if anything he looked really annoyed.

"I shall take the two of you to my snake pit and dine on your flesh," He yanked Meskhenet to her feet but when he reached down to grab the boy; the boy kicked him in the groin. Apep doubled over and the boy got to his feet. Apep gasped in pain as the two children ran off while some snakes came slithering after them.

They didn't have weapons or anything, but Meskhenet rummaged through the bag and pulled out an apple. The boy took it and threw it at one of the snake. It crushed the snake as its lower half wiggled to a stop. She continuously pulled out hard fruits and vegetables and the boy threw them at the snakes, when all snakes had either given up or met their end by colorful produce, the pair ran out of town and into the open desert.

* * *

Trying to think of a better way to summarize the story, hmmm... I put that summary up late at night and I don't like it. Ah, well, I'll change it later.

When I first wrote the chaps when they were children, I thought it was taking a long time but looking at it now...everything seems to be happening quite quickly, lol. Oh, well, don't forget to read and review!


	3. Chapter III: The Dead Pharaoh

Chapter III: The Dead Pharaoh

Meskhenet panted as they walked up a sand dune. "Can we stop for a bit?"

The boy replied by falling onto the sand. It was rather hot; it must have been evening by now. Meskhenet sat next to the boy and took off the bag, placing it between them. The boy's stomach growled. All that walking must have burnt them out. She was getting hungry too. She opened the bag and started taking out the food—whatever was left from what they hadn't thrown.

There were some bread, radishes, a bowl of creamish paste, one cucumber, olives, and different types of meat and the jar of fruity water. There weren't equal quantities among the food so they just dug in. Meskhenet split the bread between them. She offered it to the boy and he looked at it.

"Take it," she shoved the bread to him and he took it. "Is something wrong?"

"Bakura," he said. She looked at him with a questionable face. "That's my name, Bakura." She couldn't believe it! He actually told her his name! It sounded very unique and she liked it. She giggled and he looked mad. "What? Is it a funny name?"

"No, no, I like your name. It's very exotic," he blushed and started to eat the food. He swiped his finger through the paste and looked at it. He stuck his finger in his mouth and ate the paste, but he paused.

"Yuck!" he spat at the sand. She wasn't quite sure what the paste was but Bakura didn't seem to like it. "It's sour!"

"What is it?"

"I don't know but ugh… you can have it," he shoved the bowl to her and she looked at it. After his reaction, she wasn't quite sure she'd like it. She remembered Momma always told her to be grateful for what they had to eat. She took the bowl and sniffed it. Bakura helped himself to some meat. He gave her some.

"What is that?"

"Pig and that's mutton—sheep meat." He pointed at a pig leg and a flank of sheep. Meskhenet stared at the mutton. That was what her family's sheep looked like when they had be cut and cooked. It kind of made her sad. She gave him the sheep meat. "What's wrong?"

"It's odd to eat sheep. I have sheep at home."

"But isn't that why you have sheep? To sell them for wool and meat?"

"We sell live sheep," Bakura didn't say anything and instead continued eating his piece of pig. Meskhenet wasn't used to meat at all. She was a farmer, an isolated one at that. Her family barely ever, ever ate meat. It was just too expensive. Looking at it now, she thought that it really wasn't worth it. Instead, she went to eat the paste with bread as well as some of the fruit and vegetables.

There was only one jar so they would have to share. Bakura took the jar out and removed the lid. He squinted at the contents inside. "Is this water?" he said quietly but he raised the jar to his lip and took a big gulp. Meskhenet waited for him to finish so she could have some. They hadn't had water in quite a while and she was dehydrated.

Bakura eventually stopped drinking. He seemed a little disoriented but he suddenly started laughing. "W—what's wrong?" Meskhenet asked. She took the jar away from him and looked at it. She was thirsty but the water apparently wasn't water. It was dark in color and smelled very fruity. She wondered if it was poison. Bakura was still laughing but now he was sprawled on his back. She really wanted a drink though. She said her prayer to the gods and took a gulp.

It was sweet, sour and all at once bitter. But it was liquid and she was too thirsty to stop so she drank some more until finally she stopped. Maybe it was poison, she felt weird. Her body felt warm and cozy but she was shaking despite being warm. Somehow, the sand and the sun were dancing with each other and the wind was singing. She giggled at the feel of the wind and sun. What was going on? Whatever negativity she was plagued with earlier floated away and everything was better. Though she was hungry so she ate. Bakura did too but he stopped in between and hummed a little to himself. His eyes seemed to sparkle and the blue of them stood out against the golden sand and sun. He looked really cute.

She started uncontrollably giggling and he joined her. She asked him something but couldn't remember what she said but he said. "Sorry about your headpiece. It got taken… back with the traders."

"Heh, he-he, it doesn't matter. It's all good, it was not real good-gold anyways!"

"O—oh, hah-haha! You're a good magician."

"W—what?" she felt kind of tipsy. She barely could remember what came out of her mouth or whatever he said.

"Really, you're a good magician." Bakura leaned towards her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She patted his chest while laughing at his compliment. He felt hot through his tunic but the sun felt cool!

"You're really amazing! You can steal without getting caught and you're really fast!"

"I got caught by you!"

"Well, that's true! Hah ha-ha!"

Whatever happened afterwards didn't register to any of them. They both passed out and when they awoke, the sun was beginning to set. They were groaning and moaning. She was rubbing her stomach and had a large pounding in her head. She rolled onto her side and saw that Bakura was holding his head while on his stomach. She rolled the other way. That was not water and she wasn't going to drink it regardless of how thirsty she was going to get.

"Ehhh," Bakura said as he rolled onto his back. He got up and picked up the jar. He looked at it. Meskhenet turned towards him. She really hoped he wasn't going to drink it again. Bakura tossed the jar away from them before falling back onto his back. Meskhenet jolted up and placed a hand over her mouth. Her acid reflexes were coming up, she was going to vomit. She crawled a little ways off and whatever had been in her stomach came out the same way. She coughed. The food looked grossed, she moved sand over it to cover it up and she wiped her mouth. She sat back down and looked at the food they had left. Most of it was gone but she hadn't remember any of them eating that much. Maybe some animals took it when they were out.

Bakura turned onto his side and she fell onto her stomach. She felt like she was dying. They groaned until they couldn't anymore. By the time that was, it was night and they were too tired to do anything; Meskhenet looked at the stars. They were sparkling. She went to go point out a shape she always liked to Bakura. It was a circular shape, like a wheel of sorts with a cape, shoes and a short wand. There were other shapes too if one looked hard enough but Meskhenet thought that shape stood out because she vaguely remembered seeing it some time ago. It was her father's ka.

She went over to Bakura but saw that he was asleep. He was breathing lightly, he looked a little troubled but she didn't want to wake him so she lay back down and stared at the stars. Some time passed and her eyes got heavy and she soon fell asleep. She woke up somewhere in the night when she heard Bakura gasp. She looked over at him. He was breathing hard. He looked around and seemed to calm down but instead of going back to sleep. He sat up and pulled his knees to his chest, hugging them. She watched him for a bit, wondering what happened. Suddenly she saw his shoulders shake and heard him sniffling. She realized he was crying. She got up and sat down next to him. He looked at her but then looked the other way so she wouldn't see his crying face.

She didn't ask him what was wrong. He probably had a nightmare. She did the only thing she could. She hugged him. He froze a bit and in a shaky voice asked, "W-what are you doing?"

"Momma said a hug makes everything better. It can't drive away the fear but it can give you comfort and warmth," she replied, hugging him tighter. He slowly stopped sobbing and eventually he moved her arms away. He wiped his face.

"T—thank you," he said. "Sorry for waking you up." She shrugged and smiled at him.

"Take a look at that," she pointed at the sky.

"What?"

"The stars! Look at them."

"What about them?" he sniffled. She pointed at the circular shape.

"Look, it looks like a wheel with a cape and legs, see, look! It even has a wand."

"What are you talking about?"

"The stars glow and lineup in a particular order and sometimes if you look hard enough you can see shapes." She tried to find one that was more visible but Bakura suddenly pointed up at a shape.

"It looks like a jackal," she smiled at him. It seems he got what she was saying. They pointed out various shapes and animals to each other until they became too tired. They eventually laid down on the sand, gazing at the stars in silence.

She must've fallen asleep because the next thing she realized, Bakura was shaking her awake. "We need to go."

"Hmm?" she got up and yawned. It was morning. He kept looking past her so she turned to look too but she regretted it. In the distance she could see someone approaching their location. The person was looking around but the lanky figure was easily recognizable as Apep's. He was really persistent. Meskhenet got to her feet and picked up the bag. There wasn't much food left it in, but it could keep them going for a while. Bakura tapped her shoulder and pointed towards the pyramid.

There wasn't much of a choice seeing as they had left the town behind. They took off towards the large pyramid, hoping Apep hadn't noticed them. However close they were to the pyramid, it seemed like a million miles away. It didn't seem like it was getting any closer. Bakura kept looking back to make sure Apep wasn't coming but Apep was nowhere in sight. He paused for a moment and scanned the desert. Meskhenet looked back too. Apep was completely gone.

She half expected him to come popping out of the sand in front of them but no one did. It was kind of eerie, he had been not that far from them, maybe the sand swallowed him up. She hoped the sand had no taste for children. Bakura grabbed her hand and pulled her along. The pyramid finally seemed like it was reachable as the shadow it cast fell over them. Two other pyramids lay on either side of the one they were at.

"Wow!"

"They're huge!"

They walked along the side, gazing in awe at the ginormous pyramids. Their wonderment was cut short when they heard Apep. He was talking to someone, again asking for their description. He rounded the corner from the pyramid to their left; he was walking with a man on a horse. The children ran off to the front of the pyramid. They could try and run towards the lion headed woman but that risked Apep spotting them from the distance. The other pyramid was too far away, the closest hiding place was inside the middle pyramid. Meskhenet pushed him along and they both climbed up the steps to the entrance of the pyramid.

Apep and the man were still coming their way. The children ran past the pillars that held up the entrance to the pyramid. It was dark so it shadowed them from view in the entrance. They both huddled against the wall, hoping Apep would just walk on by but instead the man and he stopped right in front of the entrance. Bakura slowly moved in deeper, pushing Meskhenet along.

"You're more than welcome to check inside the pyramids. No one has watched them in years. Any one person could have entered," the man on the horse said. Apep laughed a little and thanked the man. Much to the children's horror, he did enter the pyramid!

"Go!" Bakura whispered as Meskhenet ran further in. It was dark so she couldn't see properly but she could vaguely make out stairs, one way led down and the other up. She didn't know which way to go but Bakura was rushing her so in the end she chose upstairs. There was a lot of stairs leading up.

Apep lit a torch and looked around the pyramid from below. Bakura pushed Meskhenet forward that she nearly tripped over her dress. She quickly climbed upwards but stopped. There was a room up ahead but the stairs didn't end, it continued on into another room, but there were two lights shining from squared holes at the side of the pyramids. She looked back uncertainly and saw Apep ascend the stairs. She was about to go into the room ahead but Bakura moved passed her and grabbed her hand, pulling her along to the very top room which she realized probably was a smarter decision as Apep would more than likely check the first room before going to the last.

Out from the darkness glittered gold and jewelry of all kinds. Piles of gold upon gold littered the floors. Everything from money to crowns to bracelets and anklets, how could so much gold exist? A single stone rectangle lay in the middle of the room; it was covered in hieroglyphics and by a lid of stone atop that was creaked open. Someone else must've been here before. No one would leave a pharaoh's tomb open so carelessly.

Meskhenet wondered why so much gold lay unprotected in this tomb. She thought traps or guards would at least protect these from being stolen, were people so confident that people would not touch the gold because they were funerary gold or because the pharaoh was so sacred?

The footsteps from below echoed closer, Bakura pulled Meskhenet into the room but they both paused when they heard the man's voice from earlier. "I forgot to mention, though these tombs are old and many have left these abandoned, I ask that you refrain from taking anything that does not belong to you."

The footsteps paused. "Fear not, I have no interest in gold. I merely am looking for my children." He laughed his manically laugh.

"There's no place to hide," Meskhenet whispered. Bakura looked at the tomb and started to push the lid off. Meskhenet froze; there was a mummy inside, no sarcophagus or anything, just a mummy. Perfectly wrapped in linen strips from feet to head—though the face was slightly exposed, revealing a decayed face and discolored skin of gray; small holes were spread around the face like bugs had eaten their way through.

"Get in," Bakura said as he started to climb in. She stared at him like he was crazy. "Come on!" She quickly climbed in and together they slowly pulled the lid back over them, leaving a small gap. The tomb was spacious enough for the both of them, but they had to lie down next to the mummy on either side. Was this really a pharaoh? She didn't really care if it was, it stunk and was cold. She was shivering from fright; Bakura didn't seem to care and she wondered what made him so brave. What if the mummy came alive? No, no, that wasn't possible, the ka was already gone.

Apep entered the chamber and looked around. He approached the tomb and looked at it, there was a small gap left open so that Meskhenet was able to see but Apep apparently couldn't see her. He frowned and suddenly there was a hissing sound.

"Yes, yes, we should move on. They wouldn't be stupid enough to enter these tombs; most of them have traps anyways. Damn those children, they probably have a head start on me." He walked away but neither of the children moved until they couldn't hear his footsteps. Meskhenet quickly pulled the lid off with the help of Bakura then climbed out. She gasped and coughed.

"He might still be here," Bakura said. "Though he checked this room, he shouldn't come back."

Meskhenet sighed. Life couldn't possibly get any worse, could it? She heard coins falling over each other and turned around. She saw Bakura was checking out the gold. "What are you doing? This is funerary gold, we shouldn't touch it."

"Why?" he asked, trying on a bracelet that was much too large for him. He picked up a handful of coins. "He's dead."

"Well, yes… but…" she wasn't sure how she should explain it. The gold was buried so that when the pharaoh died he could rise again in the afterlife and take his worldly goods with him. "He needs it, I guess…"

"But he's dead," Bakura repeated. "We might need this." He went over to her and opened the bag, pouring the gold coins inside.

"It's his gold though."

"We're not taking everything. He doesn't need all of this, yes? We need it more than he does."

"What for?" he looked at her surprised. "Why do we need gold?"

"The world revolves around gold, that's how it works. Everybody wants gold."

"To be honest, this is the first time I have ever seen actual gold. My family trade in our sheep and our crops. It's quite similar to the people in town too," Bakura kept adding more jewelry and gold into the bag. He didn't seem to care about it being the pharaoh's. He really was a thief.

"Maybe that is how your family works, but everyone else is different. Hierarchy is determined by our richness and gold is what determines whose rich, who gets to eat and who gets a better home."

"Bakura, stop," she pulled away from him. He looked rather annoyed. "I get it, we need gold. But we really need this much? It's heavy!"

"Oh," he tossed whatever else he was trying to put in the bag aside but then he picked up a single earring that was round in shape with sapphire jewels hanging down like beads on the inside and outside of the circular ring. "Here."

"What's this for?"

"Because you lost your headpiece back when we were with the slave traders," he shoved it towards her.

"Thank you, but it wasn't real gold," he still insisted for her to take it so she did. She looked at it; it was for people who had pierced ears. Her ears weren't pierced so she placed the earring within her sash. She tugged on the bag, it was rather heavy. She wasn't going to be able to run with this.

"Here, let me take that," he took the bag off and threw it over his shoulder and patted it. "If we head back in town, we might be able to get a horse." Having a horse would be nice; she was tired of running and walking. Speaking of horses, she just remembered losing Kanval and Naseem and she suddenly felt sad. It wasn't the appropriate time to be thinking about her horses, her main priority was to get home. She'll deal with it then.

"Alright, let's go," she said and he nodded. They both quietly descended the stairs, looking for a flame in the darkness, there didn't seem to be any. Meskhenet was worried that perhaps Apep knew they were there and was probably waiting outside to ambush them but her fears were dissolved when they safely exited the pyramid.

In the distance they spotted a group of people with horses and some other odd creature on four legs, it had a long neck and a weird hump on its back that carried a lot of luggage. Some of the horses were being ridden by people but most of them were walking. Meskhenet recognized the people as a caravan, travelers and traders who went from town to town. Maybe they could get a horse from them.

* * *

That pyramid scene didn't make any sense..., I'm going to go back and revise it later. It's really vague too because I couldn't find any info on the inside pyramids! So please if anyone knows anything about how a pyramid looks on the inside, let me know :3. Thanks again! Please read and review!

2 more chapters as children and then they'll finally be older hahahah. Btw, the rating is M for future language and violence(?), maybe some other scenes? Don't know :P for sure yet


	4. Chapter IV: The Larcenist

Chapter IV: The Larcenist

Bakura and Meskhenet rode on horses among the caravan. The people were nice enough to let them tag along. They were headed south just like Bakura and Meskhenet, but much further south than Beni Suef. Bakura and Meskhenet didn't talk about it, but once the caravan passed into Beni Suef, Meskhenet would find her way home and Bakura would probably continue on with the caravan to wherever he was headed. Somehow, it hurt Meskhenet to think about it. She hadn't known him for very long and still knew nothing about him, but he was the closest thing she had to a friend besides her sheep and she liked his company.

"You children are lucky, the desert isn't kind to many people," a man in fine clothes said. He seemed to be a jolly man and one of the leaders of the caravan. He told them he was a merchant and that he spent all his time travelling through Egypt and even below Egypt. "Where are your parents?"

"Oh, I got lost but my farm isn't far from Beni Suef. If I get there, I know someone will take me back to my farm," Meskhenet looked back at Bakura. He was gazing back at some other man who was probably a teenager. He held the bag filled with gold close. "That's my friend back there; I don't know where he's headed…"

The man laughed. "If you follow the Nile River, it will take you straight to Beni Suef," she remembered Momma used to tell her that the Nile was the way home. He looked at Bakura. "He has very unusual hair."

"Really? I like it. Who is that back there?" she asked, referring to the teenage boy. He was wearing a turban and a blue robe and light tan shendyt.

"Hmm? He too is a wanderer. He says he is headed south towards Thebes." Meskhenet didn't know much about the other towns of Egypt, but Thebes was the capital of the Egypt. It was well off compared to many of the other towns north of it. What business did he have there?

"By the way, what's that strange creature?" she pointed to the humped creature ahead of her.

"That is a camel."

"I have never heard of such a creature."

"We bought them from a breeder in Tanis; they had some lovely horses and much good merchandise."

"Father told me the Queen came from Tanis and was the elder daughter of breeders."

"Oooh, if it is the same breeders, I should be honored," the man seemed pleased to hear of this. Meskhenet slowed her horse down so that it walked side by side with Bakura's. He looked at her and smiled.

"It's good to finally be off our feet," he said. She nodded. He looked back at the teenage boy. "Does he look familiar?"

She looked at the teenage boy; he apparently noticed all the glances. He smiled at her, but it sent shivers down her spine. Something about him seemed odd. "No, but he seems kind of creepy."

"I think he was the same person who the soldiers were chasing back at Mn Nefer."

"Oh, really?"

"He's a thief. Watch out," she thought it was rather odd of him saying that since he was a thief. She wondered if she should ask him about his destination, but she was afraid that perhaps he forgot and that if she brought it up, he'd remember. Maybe he'd come back with her to her farm if he didn't remember. "Are you okay?"

"Oh! Yes, um… nothing," she smiled. He didn't look convinced but said nothing. The caravan slowly got closer towards the Nile River and the desert area changed drastically. The golden sand slowly gave way to soil and greenery. Trees were cluttered in some areas and grass grew here and there with patches of dirt scattered around. You could hear the river as well, glittering blue and sparkling in the sunlight. This reminded Meskhenet of her home and she was grateful for the cool breeze that followed.

The caravan stopped so the horses and camels could drink and eat. Some of the other people began to fill their jars with water. Whatever children were there began to play while the adults chatted with each other. Meskhenet descended her horse. Bakura had taken his horse for a drink. She looked over at the other children and decided to try and talk to them. The children were laughing and playing tag, some were running around the camels and others playing with the dogs of the caravan.

"Um…" Meskhenet said, some of the children stopped playing and looked at her. She felt embarrassed at how quiet it got. "Hello."

"Where are you from?" a boy asked, he was about Bakura's height with black hair.

"I'm from outside of Beni Suef."

"Oh, you're one of the three travelers that joined us," a girl with dark brown hair said. Most of the children were dressed pretty simply, but some had gold jewelry or other colored clothing.

"You're a peasant, aren't you? And that boy too," the black haired boy said with an air of superiority.

It sounded rather unpleasant the way he said it, but yes, she was a peasant. "I'm a farmer—well, my family is."

"Hmph, farmers are practically slaves." How rude! Meskhenet wanted to slap the boy for saying that. Slaves were war criminals and farmers were people who grew crops so people like him could eat! She had land and property, she was no slave.

"Tasmeem, stop being so rude," an older girl said. She shook her head at the boy. "I apologize for his attitude." The girl was very pretty with light brown hair, cascading down her shoulders. She wore a simple dress with a single golden belt around her waist. Her eyes were the color of water.

"But he's right! They do the same amount of work as slaves do," the girl with dark brown hair said. The older girl glared at the brown haired one.

"There is a fine line between saying the truth and being rude about it. If you cannot say anything nice or wish not to speak with her, please feel free to leave," the black haired boy, Tasmeem and some of the other children took off to play elsewhere, but many of the younger children stayed with the older girl. "Again, I apologize."

Meskhenet frowned. She really didn't like the world. She wished she had never left her farm. "No, I mean, they are right… I guess we work the same as slaves."

"No. Do not let people talk down to you. You may not be a merchant's daughter, but you are not a slave and if be you were, it still would not be nice for people to talk to you that way," the girl bent down to meet Meskhenet's eye. "I am Anya and you are?"

"Meskhenet," Anya smiled at her. She was really kind and reminded Meskhenet of her mother.

"You have the same name as the goddess of childbirth," Anya giggled. "Welcome to our caravan. Is that your friend over there?"

She nodded towards Bakura who was washing his face in the river. "Yes…" maybe she should stop telling herself that, it probably would hurt less if she acted like he was just a thief boy. It still hurt to think of them parting ways.

"Is something wrong?"

"I think we're going to stop seeing each other when we reach Beni Suef. I want to go home, but I don't want to say goodbye," Meskhenet sniffled. No, she didn't want to cry. She wiped her eyes. She should stop thinking about it. They were still here and Beni Suef was a ways to go. Anya patted her head.

"Have you told him?"

"No! I—I mean… I don't know if he remembers…"

"And you are not planning on telling him," Anya smiled sadly at her. "Perhaps one day you will see each other again. For now," she helped Meskhenet wipe away the tears. "Enjoy your time together." Meskhenet nodded. Someone called Anya over and she looked backed. "I will be right back."

She left and went over to a man who was unloading the luggage off a camel. Bakura tapped Meskhenet on her shoulder and she turned around surprised. She quickly wiped her eyes some more and sniffled. "Are you alright? Why are you crying?"

"N—nothing, I'm alright," she said, faking a smile.

He merely looked at her. "You're a poor liar."

She didn't know what to say to that so she changed the subject. "What color do you like? He looked surprised and raised an eyebrow.

"Is it important?"

"No, I just want to know," she placed her hands behind her back and rocked a little. He crossed his arms and thought for a moment.

"I hate the color gold," she was surprised by that statement. Most people liked gold and he seemed really inclined on taking gold back at the tomb. "Red… I guess I like red. It is a powerful and painful color…"

His statement was a little odd, red was a powerful color, but painful… yes, it was the color of blood but she couldn't see the point in liking a color that was painful. Personally, she didn't like red. Red was the color of the desert which meant no crops during a bad harvest. Maybe she was being narrow-minded.

"Hello," she turned around and Bakura looked up. It was the teenage boy who was standing there; he had a smile on his face with his eyes close. He seemed friendly but there was something wrong with him and Meskhenet didn't like it. She moved away and he noticed, he knitted his eyebrows together and laughed a little. "Oh, I did not mean to frighten you."

"Do you want something?" Bakura asked, rudely. The teenage boy merely laughed.

"I am Zaabit, I too am a traveler. I merely wanted to greet the two of you," he bent down a little so he wasn't looming over them. "I remember seeing the two of you back at Mn Nefer. I want to personally apologize for running into you. I was not particularly paying attention to what was in front of me."

"Why were those soldiers chasing you?" Bakura asked.

"Ah, I am afraid it was a misunderstanding," Meskhenet wasn't sure how Bakura knew he was a thief, but she trusted him more than she trusted Zaabit. She doubted the soldiers would have caused such a scare in town for a misunderstanding. "Where are you both from? Or are you siblings?"

"No," Bakura and Meskhenet rushed to answer in unison. Zaabit laughed.

"Well, that is good. You certainly do not look like each other. Where did you say you were from?"

"We didn't…"

"I am heading to Thebes; perhaps that is where you are headed too?"

Meskhenet looked at Bakura but he was staring at Zaabit. She realized Zaabit had just brought up destinations and she rushed to say something before Bakura could answer, but she couldn't think of anything and in the end, Bakura beat her to it.

"I'm just heading south." Her heart sank, he hadn't forgotten, but now why was he heading south? Zaabit looked at Meskhenet with a questionable face and she lowered her head and voice.

"Just down to Beni Suef…"

"Beni Suef is not entirely far. You will be home in no time," Meskhenet wasn't sure if she should rejoice at that. "Perhaps you can accompany me to Thebes?" he inquired to Bakura but Bakura didn't say anything. Luckily, the people were getting ready to move. "Ah, I should get back to my horse. I wish you both luck and hope to talk to you soon."

Meskhenet left to her horse and Bakura to his. They didn't talk the rest of the day. Meskhenet made small chatter with the man from earlier and with Anya, but in the end, she kept to herself. The caravan stayed close to the Nile, moving downwards passed the basin of Faiyum. They spent many days with the caravan. Meskhenet didn't see Bakura much; if anything he saw more of Zaabit and she saw more of Anya. It wasn't bad to talk to Anya, she just kind of wish Bakura met Anya and would be with her.

Whenever night fell, the caravan made camp and the men would take turns in pairs of keeping watch. Most of the children slept together but Meskhenet avoid them so she slept near her horse. She didn't know where Bakura slept, she couldn't find him. He must've been at the back of the caravan. A couple of the older women would keep Meskhenet company but they didn't talk to her much, though they seemed kind. Pretty soon the caravan went through a town near Al Fayyum and continued onwards.

They were getting real close to Beni Suef that meant Meskhenet would've to say goodbye to Bakura real soon. She figured she better spend the rest of her days with him. Who knew when they would ever see each other again, if at all anyways. Anya encouraged her to do so but warned her about Zaabit, Meskhenet didn't really need the warning, Zaabit gave her the creeps. Pretty soon she found Bakura; he was literally at the end of the caravan. He seemed happy to see her when she brought her horse over to his.

"You know I was looking at the stars the nights before. I finally saw your wheel with the wand," he said. Meskhenet laughed. She hadn't really thought of the stars recently, she had been too anxious about getting home and saying goodbye. Maybe his nightmares had kept him up so maybe that was all he could do to get away.

"We should be arriving at Beni Suef tomorrow evening," Meskhenet said. She didn't want to talk about saying goodbye, but now was as good a time as any. Bakura nodded. "I guess that's goodbye?"

He was silent for a while but then said, "It doesn't have to be. We could meet each other again," he whispered something else but Meskhenet couldn't hear. She looked at him sadly. The chances of them ever meeting again was slim, he was heading further south, she was going back to her farm but when she grew up she was going to be a court magician, meaning she would be heading to Thebes, maybe then she could see him if he was still in Egypt.

"Well, I don't really want to think of it. I guess we will see what happens when it happens," she smiled at him. He didn't say anything but he grabbed her hand and held onto it.

That night, the caravan made camp. Bakura and Meskhenet sat next to each other while the horses slept and grazed. He still had the bag filled with gold with him. She was surprised to see that the bag hadn't been stolen though people probably didn't know it was filled with gold, either that or they were actually nice not to touch other people's stuff.

"Have you tried talking to the other children?" Meskhenet asked.

Bakura made a face. "They said they hated my hair. The younger ones were nicer, probably because they haven't learned about hierarchy yet. By the way, can I call you Mes?"

Meskhenet giggled. He hadn't ever said her name and she just assumed he forgot but she guessed he found it too long to say. "No, Father is the only one who calls me that."

Bakura raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head. "Khenet then," she laughed.

"Is my name too long?"

"No, it's just a mouthful," he said. It really wasn't, it had the same amount of syllables as his, but she didn't tell him that. Someone approached them and the two of them looked up, it was Zaabit. Anya warned Meskhenet about him, said something about items going missing. He looked surprised to see Meskhenet.

"What's he doing here?" she whispered to Bakura.

"He keeps talking to me," Bakura whispered back. Zaabit bent down and smiled.

"Well, hello, looks like your friend is here today," he chuckled. "I never caught your name, friend."

She didn't like how he called her friend. He wasn't her friend. "Meskhenet…" she said.

"Well, that is a pretty name. Bakura did not want to tell me himself and I had not expected to see you again."

"What do you want?" Meskhenet asked, moving closer to Bakura.

"Nothing, Bakura has trouble sleeping so I keep him company at times," she wondered why Bakura never said anything about Zaabit to her. She didn't like Zaabit talking to Bakura. They both were thieves though… maybe Bakura felt comfortable around Zaabit, but thieves were thieves, weren't their job just competition?

"I'm alright," Bakura said but Zaabit just smiled. "Tomorrow is Khenet's last day with the caravan."

"Oh? Nicknames, how cute," Zaabit chuckled. "Do you want to accompany me to town? It is not that far from here." He was referring that to Bakura only.

"The town? We passed it not too long ago."

Meskhenet didn't like where this was going. "Yes. I know, but I need to fetch some supplies for the caravan. The leader though is stubborn, he does not want to listen to me, and after all I am an outsider."

"Why not wait until morning?" Bakura asked.

"By then it will be too late. The caravan will start moving and we will be left behind. If you would like, your friend may certainly come with us." Bakura got up and looked at Meskhenet. "We will not be long."

She hesitated. How much did Bakura know about Zaabit? He warned her when they first joined to be wary of him, but during her absence she didn't know how close they were now. Bakura seemed comfortable around Zaabit and he even told Zaabit his name. Maybe Bakura was more comfortable with thieves like himself. That made Meskhenet sad, Bakura wasn't like Zaabit but maybe he thought they were. She got up and decided to join them.

They walked passed the sleeping caravan; some of the men on watch regarded Zaabit and the children but said nothing. One man that Meskhenet recognized as the man who frequently talked to Anya (perhaps her brother or father) waved at Meskhenet, she just smiled at him. Did Zaabit already tell them they were heading to town? Why would he do that, wouldn't the leader get wind of this? Meskhenet felt a boding feeling within her and she quickly grabbed Bakura's hand.

Zaabit talked a lot about Thebes and many other places such as Tanis and Abydos. He seemed well verse in the geography of Egypt. Meskhenet asked about him and his family and he merely laughed. "My father hated me," he laughed bitterly. "He took my mother from her husband and made her a slave." She wished she hadn't asked.

"I'm sorry," she said, quietly.

Zaabit stopped. "It is no secret. He met his end not very long ago," he whispered.

She clung onto Bakura's sleeve. She didn't like how he said 'end'. "Zaabit said a… lar-lar…" he struggled for the word but couldn't bring it out until Zaabit said.

"Larcenist."

"Yes, a larcenist killed his dad," Bakura said. So Zaabit already told Bakura his tale.

They were quite far from the caravan now; Meskhenet could barely see it save for a small fire's glow. The town was in walking distance. No fires were lit, the town was asleep. They wouldn't be able to get the supplies. Zaabit continued to lead them to the town; he seemed unaffected by the fact that there weren't any people outside. He stopped and turned around.

"Bakura, do you want to come with me to Thebes?" he asked, bending down. Bakura seemed surprise by his question. Meskhenet was too. Why was he asking this of him? "You have no place to go, yes? If you come with me, we can go to Thebes together." Bakura looked at Meskhenet uncertainly. "You have no place with her. Her family will never accept you. You are a thief, like me."

Bakura shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Zaabit laughed. The worse thing about it was it wasn't maniacal like Apep's but it was so much creepier. Meskhenet shivered and huddled close to Bakura. "Do not pretend, I saw you steal food from the other children." Meskhenet looked at Bakura but he shook his head again.

"No, they took from me. I was only taking back what was mine!"

"You are just like me, a thief at heart. It does not matter what the reasons are, once we want something, we must have it," Zaabit held out his hand. "Come on, little thief Bakura."

"He's not like you!" Meskhenet said as she tightened her grip on Bakura. "And he never will be." She pulled Bakura back the way they came but Zaabit stood there, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

"Run, run, run little children, you cannot escape me for I am the Thief Lord," he slowly came after them then he picked up his speed. Bakura pulled Meskhenet into an alleyway then made a sharp turn to the left. But just like Apep, Zaabit was taller than them and he caught up to them pretty fast. He wasn't like Apep, persistent they both were, Zaabit was sly, he was toying with them, letting them outrun him at times before closing the distance in no time. He grabbed Bakura in a headlock, Bakura let Meskhenet's hand go and she turned around.

"Bakura!" she shouted.

Zaabit laughed. "Bakura, you remind me of a younger me. But you do not know the real horrors of the world. Whatever you have seen, whatever makes you turn at night, it is nothing compared to what is out there! It is only a small portion of what the world truly is. You need someone, someone who understands you, who knows what you have been through to guide you."

"Stop!" Meskhenet was about to run towards them, she didn't know what she was going to do. She wished she had magic, to burn him, to freeze him—anything, anything!

"Khenet, no!" Bakura said. Meskhenet stopped. He tried prying Zaabit's arm off him, but it was no good.

"But…"

"Just go!"

"Go on, little calf, little thief Bakura does not need you."

Meskhenet clenched her fists. She wasn't going to leave Bakura. They were friends, but what could she do, her magic was weak, she barely knew any spells. She closed her eyes and chanted, " _Sedjet en sedjet!"_

To her disappointment, nothing happened. Zaabit laughed. "What was that? Magic? Just go little calf, no one wants you here. I said it before. Bakura is just like me."

"I'm nothing like you!" Bakura shouted, struggling to get loose. "I would never do to my father what you did to yours!"

Zaabit gave a hollow laugh. "He was no father of mine! He got what he deserved." Meskhenet chanted her spell again, envisioning fire, willing it to come. When she opened her eyes again, a small flame danced at the end of Zaabit's robe. He looked at it and easily put it out. "Was that all?"

"Run, Khenet!" Meskhenet didn't know what to do. She couldn't save Bakura. She bit her lip; if she ran back to the caravan someone might be able to help her. She hesitated… what was Zaabit going to do with Bakura? If she left what would happen to Bakura? No, Zaabit wanted Bakura… she needed to get help that was what she needed. She took off at a run, looking for a door or someone, anyone. She knocked on doors, called for help, but when no one came she decided her best bet was the caravan. She looked back, hoping to see Bakura, but he wasn't there. She was getting really far from where Bakura was. She hoped someone at the caravan would help.

She slammed right into someone and fell on her rear. "Oof!"

"Are you trying to get help from the caravan?" Zaabit's voice came from above her. She looked up in shock. Zaabit was standing in front of her, his hands behind his back. Bakura was not there. Where was Bakura? "No one from the caravan will help you, little calf." The most sickening thing about Zaabit was the fact he could say all this with a fake smile and a sweet voice. Meskhenet crawled away from him but he grabbed her leg and pulled her closer to him.

"They'll come looking for us when they notice we're missing!"

Zaabit laughed and stood up, removing his hands from behind him. Meskhenet's heart pounded loudly in her ears. In his hand was a knife, it gleamed in the moonlight and sparkled at its fine edge. "No, they will not. You see, I already took the liberty to tell everyone that the three of us were leaving tonight." Meskhenet's heart sank. That's why that man, Anya's father or brother waved at her, he wasn't waving to say hi, he was waving goodbye.

"Where's Bakura?"

"Hmm, I could not convince him to come with me. It does not matter, where he is at no one will find him." He looked down at her then grabbed her right arm. "For the little trick you did back there with magic, I should slit your throat. I am in a generous mood though," his hand slid down her arm to her wrist and he brought her closer to him. With his blade, he pressed it right up against her hand. The cold blade met with her warm blood, it felt like her skin was being ripped open—to be exact, it really was. She cried out in pain and he laughed, pressing the knife deeper as he clenched her fingers around the blade.

He finally pulled away and she fell on the ground, she shakily brought her hand to her chest and cradled it. The pain burned like fire and her hand was drenched in her own blood. Red really was a painful color. Zaabit merely looked down at her. He smiled and adjusted the bag around his shoulder—that bag! That was theirs! "If I am lucky, you will die from an infection or better yet maybe bleed out. Ah well, you are no longer my problem." He waved at her and walked away.

Meskhenet got up and watched his back as he slowly but surely got further away. He took their gold and he did something to Bakura. She needed to find Bakura, the caravan could wait. Her hand hurt so bad, she hugged it. Momma always told her wounds needed pressure. She could wrap something around it! She loosened her sash and the earring Bakura gave her fell out. The point at the end could help. She picked up the earring and poked a hole in her sash, she forced it through the sash to cut a strip out, she then ripped the strip she had made and quickly tied it around her hand, she tightened it then use her mouth and free hand to tie a knot. It throbbed but that should do. She placed the earring back within her sash. Now to look for Bakura…

She didn't know where he was, but looking down in the sand, she saw that Zaabit had left a trail from where he walked away and when he came to her. If she followed it, she should be able to find Bakura. She may not know much about the world outside her farm, but she knew the seasons. Winter and spring were not here therefore the winds were weak; his trail should still be fresh if she looked hard enough.

She followed his trail, at times she lost it, but it curved and winded throughout the town until it split in two. One way led to the alleyway she had left Bakura in, the other trailed off elsewhere. She decided to follow the second trail. She followed it; it passed a street vendor, a potter's house and led all the way over to an old house that looked rather abandoned. Was Bakura inside? The trailed stopped here…

She went to the door, it was jammed shut when she tried pushing it so she went over to the window near it, it was too small for her to fit through, but the window was too high. She listened carefully trying to hear if there was any breathing but all she heard was rats squeaking. "Bakura!" she called to no answer. She jumped to get a better view but ended up falling backwards. She saw at the side of the house was a storm cellar.

She crawled over to it and saw that it was locked shut. How was she going to get it open? She nudged, pulled and yanked on it, but with one hand, she could barely do anything. Bakura must be down there. The doors were wooden, if she burned it… " _Sedjet en sedjet!"_ she tried, a small flame grew at the corner of one of the doors. Yes! But it was a feeble flame so Meskhenet chanted again. The flame grew a bit and ate more of the wood; she repeated the spell over and over until a good enough corner of the door had been eaten away. She peeked through and saw sand, she scanned the area and sure enough Bakura was there!

* * *

I should've made Bakura do more, but I felt like he'd be doing too much (especially when he's older so yeah, I didn't want Meskhenet not doing anything all the time). I'm actually not sure if sedjet en sedjet translates to what I wanted. Supposedly it translates to 'fire to fire' in English from Egyptian, I was aiming for ashes to ashes but couldn't find the word 'ashes' in Egyptian. If that's wrong, please let me know if that's right if you know Egyptian :3. Please read and review!


	5. Chapter V: The Lady of Faith

Chapter V: The Lady of Faith

He was unconscious, she called out to him but he did not response. She gripped the hole's edge and pulled on it. The wood cracked, it was old after all, and she pulled harder until a piece broke off. She threw it aside and continued to pull pieces of the wood out. The splinters dug in her hand and her arm hurt from so much force, but she continued on. If she thought about it, it wasn't much different to pulling wheat—though admittedly, much harder.

Once a good enough hole was made, she scooted herself to the edge and dropped down. The storm shelter was filled with sand (which kind of defeated the purpose of why it was there) to the point that it was quite close to the doors, whatever stairs had been there were mostly buried. Meskhenet went over to Bakura and placed her hand just above his mouth. He was still breathing, thank Ra.

She shook his shoulder, "Bakura," she said. She shook him harder. She wouldn't be able to pull him out. She needed him up. "Bakura!" She lightly slapped his face, "Come on…" she shook him again and again until he finally moaned and turned over.

"Wha…at?"

"Bakura!"

He got up and looked around then he looked at her, he seemed relieved to see her. "Khenet, you're alright," he grabbed her arms but then saw the makeshift bandage on her hand. "Your hand…?"

"Forget it; we need to get out of here." Meskhenet got up and helped Bakura to his feet. "Zaabit already told the caravan that we were leaving with him. They won't come looking for us."

"They'll leave at dawn. We should be able to get back there," He moved over to the corner and looked up at the hole she made. "Come on, I'll hoist you up then you can pull me out." Meskhenet hesitated. He had just been knocked out, she wasn't sure if he should be doing that but nonetheless they needed to get out. She placed her hand in his cupped hands and he pushed her up, she crawled out of the hole then turned around and offered her good hand. Ra, he was heavy but she helped pull him up as far as she could and he finally climbed out.

The pair ran out of the town, Meskhenet held her right hand to her chest so she ran clumsily but the two managed to get to the banks of the Nile. They followed it straight down south back where the caravan was, but Meskhenet noticed fresh footprints in the dirt and her heart sank. Bakura slowed down and she ended up hitting into him, she peered from beside him and saw why he stopped. Standing in the not so distance was Zaabit, he looked preoccupied gazing at the starry night but then he turned to them and smiled.

"Ah, somehow I knew you two would survive," he said in his fake sweet voice. "I was really hoping against it, but I guess the gods have other plans for you two." Bakura walked over to Zaabit but Meskhenet quickly grabbed his arm.

"Don't…"

"Let me do this," Bakura said quietly, yanking his arm away. Zaabit looked confused but then smiled as he bent down. Bakura came right in front of Zaabit and stood there. Meskhenet slowly approached with caution as she watched the two.

"I see, you do want to come to Thebes with me, yes, little thief Bakura?" Bakura didn't respond, but in the next instant, things happened too fast for Meskhenet to fully comprehend. Bakura had taken the knife from Zaabit's side and stabbed him in the shoulder. Zaabit seemed rather shocked at this at first, but he got up like there was no pain. He curiously looked at his wound but then smiled and before Meskhenet knew it, Bakura fell on his knees. She saw the side of his tunic soak up with blood.

"No!" she shouted, running towards Bakura. Zaabit pulled his second blade out and turned away, just as Meskhenet reached Bakura.

"One day you will come to Thebes and look for me, yes… but I guess that depends entirely if you live to see the next day." Zaabit pulled the knife out of his shoulder and looked at Meskhenet coldly. "I hope you rot."

With that he walked away, but Meskhenet could care less about Zaabit. She hoped he'd get eaten by a crocodile or run over by a hippo, anything would have been good. Bakura was holding his wound and shaking, his blood was so warm and coming out too quickly. Meskhenet desperately grabbed at her sash to wrap around him. Bakura fainted before she could finish untying her sash, the earring fell out.

She quickly turned him over onto his back. She pressed her sash onto his wound and tried to apply as much pressure as possible. If he continued to bleed out then he would die. She needed help, but she couldn't leave him alone. The caravan shouldn't be too far away if she left for a little bit then maybe—in the corner of her eye, at the east horizon, she could see the sun's first rays touch the darkness and she knew it was too late. The caravan would already be moving.

"Help!" she called futilely to no one. She repeatedly called for help even though she knew, no help would come. The sun was rising higher, soon it would be morning. She couldn't stop herself from crying so she let the tears come. She couldn't do anything for Bakura, he'd either bleed out or die from an infection and all she could do was sit there and cry. She was so useless! Useless and lonely, confused and scared, what was she going to do? What would happen to Bakura? She didn't know how long they were there like that, but the next time she looked, the sun was high and a medium sized pool of blood was forming on the ground.

"I'm so sorry," she cried as she sniffled. Suddenly the wind picked up and blew in all directions. She shut her eyes, but suddenly didn't feel alone anymore. She opened her eyes to see a tall lady, kneeling down in front of her, eyes closed and hands clasped as if she was in prayer. The lady wore a blue gown with a green layered cape at her shoulders, long blue hair fell out from her large pink and violet hat. At the center of the lady's hat was a star and in the star was an emerald like jewel.

Meskhenet jumped back in surprise and the lady opened her blue eyes and smiled kindly at her. Meskhenet quickly went back to applying pressure to Bakura's wound. "Meskhenet, do not cry. Have faith in the gods," the lady said kindly.

"W—who are you?" Meskhenet asked. The lady unclasped her hands and placed a hand on top of Meskhenet's hand. The lady began to chant a spell and suddenly, Meskhenet felt at peace, despite her fears, she was calm and… happy.

"I am the Lady of Faith. I was sent here by your father," Father?! What did that mean? The lady gave a small, sad smile. "Your father is very weak, Meskhenet. You need to return home at once."

"I—I know, but Bakura…! He's injured, I—I don't know what to do…"

The lady looked at Bakura and touched his heart. "He is very strong. He will live." Meskhenet didn't understand. She was sure Bakura was dying. The lady removed Meskhenet's hand and sash away from his wound, it looked really bad. The lady waved her hand through the air and suddenly a tall woman of blue skin and green robes appeared. Her hair was the color of the desert with a white crown of sorts atop her head which matched the top of her dress. She chanted a prayer and a single tear fell from her eye and onto Bakura's wound. A glowing light of green and white engulfed his wound. Meskhenet stared in awe but then the lady grabbed Meskhenet's right hand and placed it over the glowing light.

The blue woman disappeared within the air and the light went with her. When it was gone, Bakura's wound was too! There was no blood, no wound, just his skin. Meskhenet looked in awe at her hand, it too had been healed. She looked at the lady who smiled down at her.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Meskhenet, your father is very worried."

"I know, I'll get home as fast as I can, I promise!"

"Remember, Meskhenet, always have faith," the lady touched Meskhenet's face and placed a kiss on her forehead. It reminded her of Momma but the lady started to fade away, like she was never there. Meskhenet realized that the woman was a monster spirit, a ka. That was something Father hadn't done in a long while.

Meskhenet couldn't believe this was all real. It felt like a dream, she touched Bakura's healed skin and then checked out her hand as she untied the piece of sash from her hand. The wound really was gone. Bakura began to stir then got up.

"Zaabit!" he said, but he looked at Meskhenet then at his wound which was no longer there.

Meskhenet shook her head, "Zaabit's gone."

"You healed me!" he said astonished. He grabbed her hand and looked it over.

"No… it wasn't me."

"What are you talking about? You used magic, right?" he laughed. "Thank you!"

"Bakura…" he didn't seem to register what she was saying, but he thanked her again and looked around.

"We have to find Zaabit. He took our gold."

"No…"

"He shouldn't have gotten too far ahead," Bakura looked at the sky and frowned. "How long was I out?"

"Bakura," Meskhenet picked up the earring and stood up and grabbed his sleeve. He looked at her. "A monster spirit healed you…"

"What?"

"Father summoned them I think. I don't know how, he hasn't summoned any monsters in a long time, but she said that he's weak and she said I need to get home!"

"Were you crying?" Bakura wiped her eyes and she moved away slightly. "Alright, then we need to get you home." She wondered if he was alright with letting Zaabit go. Frankly, there wasn't anything they could do anyways. Zaabit hadn't seemed to be affected by pain; he was also a murderer, if they kept persisting who knew what he would do. "If we follow the Nile, it should lead us straight to Beni Suef, that's what the caravan said."

They started following the Nile south. Bakura kept looking at where his wound would be and Meskhenet kept a study pace ahead of him. Eventually, Bakura fell behind and maybe he didn't want to admit it, but he must've been still weakened from the wound so Meskhenet slowed down so that she was walking beside him.

"How does one summon monster spirits?" Bakura asked, panting. Meskhenet looked at him worriedly.

"Do you want us to stop?" he shook his head. "Father uses—used a device called a Diadhank. I thought he gave it up though. He told me that people can summon their own kas if their _heka_ was strong enough."

"So if I have enough magic, I can summon my own ka?" she nodded. Bakura looked at himself. "What does my ka look like?"

Meskhenet giggled. "I don't know. Father said everyone's kas look different, but he said children's kas aren't entirely formed yet because our magic isn't strong."

"Do kas look like snakes?" he asked. Meskhenet thought it was an odd question but Bakura stopped walking and she turned around. She walked over to him. He was touching his chest, probably where he thought his ka resided.

"I think they can be anything, why?" she asked worriedly. Why a snake? After everything that happened, she hated snakes.

Bakura dropped his arms at his sides. "My dream…"

"Hmm?"

"I'm plagued by a snake. I keep seeing it whenever I sleep," was he referring to his nightmare? She wondered if it was because of Apep, but he quickly dismissed that. "It's not Apep or his snakes. It's white and it glows. I don't know what it's for. I just keep seeing it." He held himself like he was cold and Meskhenet hugged him.

"I don't know much about dreams, but if the snake doesn't harm you, maybe it's a good snake. Momma always said white was the color of purity, maybe the snake is good; maybe it is your ka. I can't really answer that, I'm sorry," she stopped hugging him but he just gave her a small smile.

"It's alright. The snake never harms me, but it's always there, after all the screaming and the pain…" he whispered the last part but Meskhenet wondered what he was talking about. He shook his head. "We should keep going." They continued on until Meskhenet spotted blue flowers laid onto the side. She ran over to them and Bakura just lazily followed.

She looked at the flowers in awe and wonderment as she picked them up. She had never seen so much blue on something on land besides the water before. It was always the blue sky. The flowers were different shades of blue, some were more vivid, others lighter, some were even purple but they all had yellow centers and pointed petals. They looked like they had been plucked out from somewhere and laid onto the side. She looked at the Nile and to her amazement, there were even more flowers in the Nile! Some floated on lily pad, others protruded out of the water on stems. The flowers must've been picked out from the Nile.

"Look, Bakura!" she laughed and Bakura came over to her. He looked at the ones in the Nile as Meskhenet began to weave the flowers on land into a flower crown. She hummed to herself as she worked. Bakura was staring out to the Nile. She made two crowns; one was for Momma when she got back home. Hopefully Momma wasn't too upset at her and the other one was for… "Bakura!"

He looked down at her and she waved him over. He came closer to her but she still waved him over. Confused, he knelt down and she placed one flower crown on his head. He looked surprised as he touched the flowers on his head. Meskhenet giggled. They both got up and Bakura kept touching the flower crown. Meskhenet gave a bow.

"Oh, Prince of Thieves!"

He looked surprised. "What did you call me?"

She suddenly felt ashamed for calling him that. Maybe he didn't like being called that so she quickly apologized, "I'm sorry!"

He smiled. "No, I kind of like that. Um…" he looked around then bent down and picked up a single flower and placed it in Meskhenet's hair. "You used up all the flowers, I can't make you one. I hope that suffices though."

Meskhenet laughed. She picked up the other flower crown. "I'm going to give this to Momma when we get back home."

"Oh," Bakura said as she was about to turn to leave. "I never asked you your favorite color." She smiled, she had completely forgotten about that.

"Blue," she said with hesitation. "It's the color of the morning sky."

"And the water," Bakura said. He looked at her flower crown, "And these flowers."

"And your eyes," Meskhenet said. Bakura looked surprise at her response but she giggled and he blushed.

"Uh, we should go," he said quickly.

She nodded and they continued on their way. Pretty soon, she spotted some men fishing in the Nile. There was a man with his goats and dog, he spotted the children and smiled at Meskhenet. He looked vaguely familiar but she couldn't remember where. The fact there was more people here meant that they must be near Beni Suef or perhaps already there.

"Meskhenet," the man with the goats said. He wore a simple hooded robe and had a shepherd's crook. She was surprised he knew her name. "It has been a long time. Last time I saw you, you were really young and Hakim was still living with you."

"Oh!" she remembered really vaguely that when her brother went to take their sheep out for water, they'd run into a man with goats. She never knew his name but she liked his goats. They were always cute. "You're the goat man!"

He laughed. "You're quite far from your home. Is your parents here?" he looked at Bakura. "Hanging out with friends?"

"Are we at Beni Suef?" she asked, hopefully. The man nodded.

"Just at the border; are you on your way home?" Meskhenet nodded. "Be careful, there was a raid some days ago."

Meskhenet didn't quite hear the man as she rushed off and waved goodbye. Bakura ran after her. If she just continued on for a little longer and went up the Nile, she should be home! She missed Momma and Father and couldn't wait to see them.

"Who's Hakim?" Bakura asked.

She looked at him. "That's my brother's name."

Bakura thought for a moment. "You said he's a soldier, right? So he lives at the capital… you're going to be a court magician when you grow up, doesn't that mean you'll see him again? You said you hadn't seen him in a long time so maybe you'll get to see him when you head over to the capital." Meskhenet slowed to a stop and Bakura looked at her. "W—what's wrong?"

She hadn't told Bakura everything. She wasn't becoming a court magician to see her brother again, she couldn't. "Bakura," she bit her bottom lip. "Hakim's dead."

"Oh…"

"He died three years ago."

"I'm sorry," Bakura walked over to her. Meskhenet felt sad remembering that. Her brother hadn't lived with them for quite some time so it was easy to pretend that maybe he wasn't dead, that he was just at the capital, that's what Momma always did. Father stopped talking about Hakim altogether, probably because Momma couldn't accept Hakim's death. She always acted like Hakim was still alive, just busy being a soldier.

Bakura grabbed her hand but she just gave him a sad smile. "It's alright, he died protecting Egypt. He got to fight alongside the Pharaoh so everyone said that he died in great honor." Bakura didn't look happy hearing about the Pharaoh, but he pulled her along down the Nile. They walked on in silence as Meskhenet kept a look out for her house above the Nile.

She spotted it some minutes later and she quickly took off. Momma and Father would be so happy to see her and she so desperately wanted to hug them! She wanted to see all the sheep too! Maybe Master Zaim—no, not really, she hoped she didn't see him, he'd probably just yell at her for being stupid and for losing the horses. She ran up the slope from the Nile and quickly into the backdoor of her home. Bakura came in some moments later.

Meskhenet looked around, her house looked empty. She checked around it, calling for Momma and Father. Didn't the Lady of Faith say her father was weak; shouldn't he be resting in his room? There wasn't any one there; it was empty save for some pottery at the wall and a table in the middle. The living room looked like it hadn't been used in days. Oh! Maybe Father was in her room, she ran to her room but just like everything else, it was empty. Her sheets were neatly folded in the corner, the way she had left it that morning many days ago. Where were Momma and Father?

She exited her room and saw Bakura standing at the kitchen area. He was looking out the window. He pointed outside. "Khenet…" he said and she looked at where he was pointing. The farm outside was in ruins, the crops had been burned down, leaving black smudges in the soil. Some dead sheep were there too. Meskhenet stared in horror at the scene, dropping the flower crown onto the floor. What happened?

She opened the front door but just as she had done that, someone slammed the backdoor open and frantically looked around. She turned around, hoping to see Momma or Father but instead an angry Master Zaim stood there.

"You!" he said as he went over to her, completely ignoring Bakura. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her. "You stupid, foolish girl! Where in Ra's name have you been?"

"Master…" Meskhenet began to cry. "W—what happened?"

"Your father's been worried sick for you. Come on!" he pulled her along towards the back door but Meskhenet resisted.

"Master, please! Where's Momma, where's Father?" Master Zaim stopped.

"Your mother is dead," he said. What? No, that couldn't be!

"No! Where's Momma? She can't be dead, she can't…" Meskhenet sobbed but Master Zaim offered no comfort. Bakura came over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"If we had the horses, your mom could've gotten away," he said angrily. What was he trying to say? Did she kill Momma because she hadn't come back with the horses? She felt sick and her heart felt cold. This couldn't be happening…

"Stop blaming her! It wasn't her fault," Bakura said in her defense but Master Zaim turned to him.

"You're that thief boy," he glared at him. "You're to blame just as much." Meskhenet yanked her hand out of Master Zaim's grip and took off, crying. She ran to the stables and plopped down in front of Kanval's stall. She cried. Momma was dead because of her. If she had been smart enough to turn around back then than Momma would still be alive. Everything would have been just fine, but she was stupid!

She brought her legs over to her chest and cried at her knees. She didn't know how long she was there, but she started to hiccup. She heard Master Zaim yelling but she didn't care. She wished she was dead. Bakura came sometime later and sat down beside her. She turned her head away from him. He was silent for a moment.

"Three years ago," he said. "My village was attacked by people." She turned and looked at him while sniffling and hiccupping. "They killed everyone, they didn't take anything but they shepherded everyone to one place, killed anyone who resisted. All of my family… and my friends, they were killed too."

So that's why he mentioned people screaming and pain, he had witnessed all this. He was plagued by his memories, he had lost so much. He must've been in constant pain. She realized he was telling her his story to make her feel better; she wasn't entirely sure how it was supposed to make her feel better, if anything it made her feel worse. She felt sad for him and her. The pain in her heart was etched there.

Suddenly, Master Zaim came. He looked down at the two angrily. He grabbed Meskhenet's arm and yanked her to her feet. "We have to go," he pulled her away.

"W—wait!" Meskhenet reached out to Bakura but Master Zaim kept pulling her along. "Bakura!"

"Stop talking to that thief," Master Zaim yanked her towards him. "Take him away."

Suddenly three men came and held Bakura down on his knees, grabbing his arms. Bakura struggled against them but they were too strong. Meskhenet called out for Bakura but Master Zaim kept walking and pulling her along. She couldn't run to Bakura, she couldn't move, her arm hurt from Master Zaim's grip, but he didn't loosen it. She still clenched onto the earring in her hand. Master Zaim kept on walking and Bakura got further and further away. All Meskhenet could do was cry.

* * *

Meskhenet snuck out of her house one night. She huddled the hooded cloak close to her and made sure Master Zaim wasn't following her. Master Zaim had taken her to a private house in Beni Suef where Father was resting; he had been badly burnt and had been bed ridden for the last few days. He was currently unconscious; apparently he had used most of his strength summoning monster spirits to look for her which didn't make her feel any better. He was in really bad shape. Master Zaim had taken to keeping Meskhenet in her room for the most part, but he kept watch over Father along with his sister.

She swore to Ra she wasn't going to be long. She was only heading over to the dungeons and then she'd be right back. She quickly dashed through the town of Beni Suef, passing many houses and some empty street vendors until she ran into some guards, standing in front of a plain and boring looking building with a lot of small windows. She approached one guard who looked rather surprised to see her.

"Um, excuse me, sir, I was wondering, is there a boy here with light gray hair?" she asked. The guard looked uncomfortable as he looked at another guard who shook his head and went inside the building. The guard looked panicked as he quickly answered.

"No, now uh go back to your Master," he said quickly. So he apparently knew Master Zaim. He looked like he was sweating, was he scared of Master Zaim?

"Please, sir, I swear I won't tell my Master anything!"

The guard looked really uncomfortable as he looked around. He bent down and whispered, "The boy got away. Don't tell Master Zaim!"

A sigh of relief left Meskhenet. Good, so Bakura wasn't held up in the dungeons. "Thank Ra—I mean, yes, sir, thank you, sir!" she took off back to the private house. Bakura would probably head south like he planned; she didn't get to say goodbye and that made her sad. She didn't get to comfort him either after learning about his village and family. She probably wouldn't see him ever again but at least she knew he was out there. He was smart and quick. He would make it out in this cruel world.

* * *

Welp, little to say about this. Zaabit has congenital analgesia so he can't feel pain. Meskhenet's father, I think she mentioned earlier, worked/works(?) at the Palace for the Queen. He has a diadhank and what not and the Lady of Faith is one of his kas. Y'all should know why I specifically chose that monster :P. Read and review!


	6. Chapter VI: The Black Steed

This chapter takes place six years before Dawn of the Duel, yes, I jumped Bakura's age to 22 in Dawn of the Duel because there is no way in hell he was 1 years old when his village was destroyed.

* * *

Chapter VI: The Black Steed

Meskhenet placed a book back into the shelf of the small study room of her house. The room was small with a table and chair positioned in the corner of the room, right next to the door. There were shelves lining the walls filled with scrolls and books of various subjects, mostly pertaining to magic. There was a window large enough to climb through and the rest of the room was unfurnished. This was where Meskhenet spent most of her time when she wasn't taking care of the sheep or talking with the other girls her age.

Actually, she hadn't seen many girls her age anymore. Most of them were being married off and moving to Thebes or Tanis with their husbands. Lately the subject of marriage and husbands had been what Zaim talked about with her when she wasn't practicing magic. She felt that he was trying to get rid of her. Though she had improved her magic, she knew she still needed more training to get better.

Zaim wasn't the same man he was five years ago. He had mellowed out, married Anya, the girl from the caravan and now had a son named Issar. However, Anya wasn't with them very long, she died shortly after Issar was born. Zaim spent most of his time with his son when he wasn't with Meskhenet or often talked with her father.

Meskhenet had changed since then, she now was taller (not as tall as she'd like to be) with more feminine features. She changed her hair too, the length was still at her elbows but now it was slightly layered with actual bangs instead of the hime cut. She wore a simple hooded robe with a copper belt around her waist and no shoes.

Zaim came into the room. He now wore robes of white and light tan with lesser gold than he did before. His hair was now shown, reaching the back of his neck and quite messy. He looked tired as he came in. _Please, don't talk about marriage!_ Meskhenet thought.

"Meskhenet, we need to talk," she turned to him and smiled. Her father came in with his wooden staff for support for his limp leg and sat at the desk. He wore a plain robe with a dark green cloak with the hood pulled over his face. He now had a beard that was light gray, streaked white. His hood shadowed most of his face but his eyes were kind and tired.

"Yes?" she asked, fearing the subject.

"Marriage," Master Zaim said. _Well, Ra, how did I know?_ Meskhenet tried to keep a fake smile on her face but she couldn't so she frowned and sighed. She crossed her arms and rocked on her heels. "This needs to be discussed."

"Mes, Zaim is right. We cannot keep delaying this," her father coughed.

"Master Zaim, Father," she said slowly, closing her eyes. "I have already told you my answer to this yesterday."

"I'm beginning to think we should stop asking for her approval and simply arrange a marriage," Zaim said as he looked at her father. " _Yaqeen_." Her father sighed and looked at her.

"I'm not getting married!"

"Her answer is decided, Zaim, there's nothing we can do," her father got up and pushed the chair in. Zaim didn't move from the door way. Meskhenet looked at the window behind her. It was big enough for an adult man to crawl through. She could just as easily climb out and run.

"If she was my daughter, I would have had her married at thirteen. If you keep letting her do what she wants, she will be married by the time she can't have children and we will both be dead."

 _Thirteen?!_ Some of her friends had gotten married at that age but goodness, she was glad she wasn't Zaim's daughter. She inched closer to the window. "Zaim, I will not force my daughter to marry a stranger or better yet, someone she doesn't love. I will not condemn her to a life of misery."

"She'll learn to love the stupid man. Most women do anyways. Yaqeen, she isn't a little girl anymore, she's a woman. You need to accept this and start treating her like one," Zaim crossed his arms and tapped his foot.

"I do treat her like a woman. Why, she shepherds the sheep on her own and she goes to shop on her own. I don't hold her hand anymore and she doesn't ask permission for many things," Yaqeen laughed softly. He was merely playing around with Zaim but it only made Zaim angry. Meskhenet went over to the window and hoisted herself onto the sill. Zaim looked up from her father.

"What are you doing?!"

"I think we need more bread," she said. Zaim moved passed her father and reached for her but she threw her legs over the sill and took off at a run. She was tired of that conversation. Most of her friends talked about it too and many of them started to leave one by one. She had no time for marriage or men or children, she was going to be a court magician. "Ra, if I was a man they wouldn't be bothering me of this."

Some boys ran passed her, chatting about a horse. She stopped and looked at them. "What'd happen if you throw rocks at it?" one boy asked.

"Let's find out!" another boy said. Meskhenet sped walked over to the boys and grabbed them from the back of their tunics and pulled them back. The boys screamed. She smiled at them and let them go. "Ahh, it's the witch!"

"How rude!" Meskhenet said indignantly. "Now what is this about a horse?" The boys were suddenly quiet. "Come on, talk to me. I'm not going to do anything to you."

"The older ones tell us that you're a witch," the other boy said, he had light brown hair and seemed a little younger than his friend. "You spend all your time in that study of yours, reading spells about turning people to sheep!"

Meskhenet laughed. "Really? You believe that?" The brunette nodded.

"Go away, witch!" the other boy said.

"Apparently you don't," she said, placing a hand on the boy's head. He looked a bit frightened, but he was glaring at her. "If I really was a witch then you wouldn't be speaking to me like that, would you? I could just turn you into a sheep! Or better yet, remove your tongue like how they do in mummification." The boy became silent. "Now, this horse, where is it and who does it belong to?"

"No one knows, it's been in town for a couple of days," the brunette answered. "It hasn't moved from its spot near the baker's shop."

She sighed. How can someone just leave their horse like that? It's going to die if it didn't get any water. She removed her hand from the other boy's head and he ran some feet away from her. "Alright, here's a warning: don't throw rocks at creatures or I'll turn you into sheep and maybe some other curious little boys start throwing rocks at you! Got it?" the boys nodded. Of course, there wasn't any spell to actual turn people into sheep, but the boys didn't know that. The boys ran off but the brunette turned around and called back to her.

"Witch," she shot a glance at the boy and he quickly changed his words, "Sheep lady, there's some items around town going missing, keep your valuables safe!" he took off after his friend. He was nice enough to warn her about it, but it wasn't like she had any valuables. Her hand unconsciously went to her ear—oh, yes, she had one valuable item. The earring she got from the pyramid. She finally got her ear pierced and wore it wherever she went, even to sleep. Well, whoever was going around stealing items would've to deal with her if they wanted her earring. _I'm a capable magician to burn them if anyone gets near._

She walked over to the baker's shop and true enough, there was a large black steed, standing outside the baker's shop. It looked tired and hungry but had a very lustrous coat with shiny long black hair and beautiful brown eyes. It had nothing on it except a bridle around its face. It stomped its feet and looked at her as she came over to it. Some children were staring in awe at the horse, thank Ra no one was throwing rocks at it.

"Poor beast," she said as she petted the muzzle of the horse. It snorted just as the baker came out.

"Is this your horse?" the baker asked. He looked tired and his hands were covered in flour along with his robes.

"No," she answered simply.

"No one has yet to claim it, it will die if it doesn't get something to drink," the baker said, shaking his head. "Take it back to your place. I will direct the owner to your house should someone come asking for it."

The baker was right; the horse was going to die of dehydration. Well, it wasn't like she was stealing. "Alright, I will take him off your hands," she said and the baker smiled relieved. He must have been worried for the beast. She grabbed the reins and clicked her tongue at the horse; it easily followed her back to her house. She led the horse to her backyard of her house where a bunch of sheep were penned in, crowding around a water trough and bleating. She shooed the sheep away and opened the wooden fence and led the horse to the trough. The sheep moved away and the horse drank the water like it had never seen water before.

The horse reminded her of Naseem, but a lot more gentle. She patted the horse's shoulder. Her father came over from the fence and closed it behind him. "Mes, don't leave the fence open, the sheep will run away."

"Sorry, Father," she said preoccupied. Her father looked at the horse.

"Ah, did someone give that to you? Someone like a… _boy_?" her father asked. She looked at him and laughed, he just smiled. She knew he was joking, making fun of Zaim's constant pestering of marriage but she shook her head.

"No, I do not know the owner. He needed water so I brought him here."

"He can stay here as long as he likes. He's more than welcome to," her father said as he walked over to the horse and petted its mane. The horse regarded him then went back drinking water. "Ah, reminds me of Naseem."

Meskhenet laughed. "I thought so too." The sheep bleated and started chewing on Yaqeen's robe, pulling at it; he petted the sheep and lightly pushed them away.

"I think the sheep are hungry," he chuckled softly.

"Alright," Meskhenet said. She needed to take the sheep down to the Nile for some fresh greens. They could really be pigs at times; she went over to the wall at the other side of the fence and picked up her shepherd's crook. She went over to the fence and opened it up. She pounded the ground with the crook. "Come on, sheep, it's time to eat," many of the sheep followed her out. It was like a parade, less spectacular though, she led the sheep out of her backyard and into town. All the sheep crowded around her and followed her throughout the town. Some children touched the sheep but the sheep didn't care. They wanted one thing and one thing only: food.

Meskhenet poked the ground with the crook and continued out of Mallawi, down, down to the Nile where the lush greens grew. The sheep began to disperse but Meskhenet clicked her tongue and the sheep began following the flock again. They walked down slope to the soft soil of the Nile and she stopped and let the sheep disperse to drink water from the Nile and to eat their fill of greens. She touched one sheep's wool and the sheep looked at her. Their wool was getting quite long; she was going to need to shear the sheep pretty soon.

She hated shearing sheep. There was at least twenty-four sheep in the herd, not including the three lambs. It was going to take a whole day or two to get all their wool off. She walked over to three sheep that were eating lilies and drinking from the Nile. "Want to see something amazing?" she asked the sheep to no response. She concentrated on the water and raised her hand up into the air, the water shot out in an upward arc creating an archway of water while two other sprouts came up like a fountain.

The sheep didn't care.

They continued to eat, ignoring her magic, some went over to the water and drank from the sprouts; the lambs went to play under the archway. One day she was going to be in a court and people would actually awe at her magic. She sat down at the bank of the Nile and watched the sheep.

After seven hours, the sheep got their fill and Meskhenet herded them up together and led the woolen fleece parade back to town and into her backyard. She opened the wooden fence and all the sheep came huddling in, bleating at the horse that just woke up. She closed the fence behind her and went over to the horse. It had drunk up all the water in the trough and apparently her father or Zaim had given the horse some hay to eat. The sun was beginning to set, it was already at the lowest at the horizon, painting the sky violets and orange before the navy blue took over.

Meskhenet placed her crook against the wall. She was going to need to fill the water trough, but first she needed to light a torch, it was getting rather dark. The house was quiet, her father probably left to the palace (he frequently went there as of late, he'd even stay there for some days if he needed to). Zaim wasn't home either, probably went to his house for the night.

"Well, sheep, Master Zaim wants me married, how about you, Taymur, offer me a home and we can move in together. Fear not, it won't be a real marriage, just something to stop him from pestering me about this nonsense," she went to look for the torch. It was supposed to be with the crates and pottery, but she couldn't see it in the dark. One sheep bleated in protest. "No? Taymur's yours?" she asked one of the ewes. "That's quite alright. He's not that handsome anyways. Where is the torch?"

"A union between a woman and a ram, wouldn't that be quite the sight?" someone said. Meskhenet jumped at the voice and looked around. She scanned her backyard but saw no one. It was too dark for her to see. The voice had an accent to it and sounded very taunting. Who was intruding in her property?

"Who's there?" she asked, groping for the torch. The sheep probably had moved it. She should've kept it in the house.

"I believe that's my horse," the voice said and she saw someone jump down from the wall. She looked up at the wall, it was rather high. How in the Nile did that man get up there? He walked over to the black steed and petted it. She couldn't make out who the person was, they had a cloak and a hood pulled over their face. Their back was to her but he was quite taller than her.

"Most people would have just knocked on the door or waited at the fence. You're intruding on my property," she said. Damn, where was that stupid torch?

"I'm just here to get my horse, no harm done. I'll be out of here in just a moment," the man said as he grabbed the reins of his horse. Wait, the horse was his? How irresponsible of him to leave his horse for two days without food or water.

"You nearly killed your horse," she said, angrily. "If you're going to leave it unattended, leave it in a place where it has access to water and food." The man turned his head to her but she still couldn't see his face. Some of the sheep bleated at the man, if only sheep could attack people… one sheep chewed and pulled on the man's cloak and his hood fell off, revealing light gray hair. The man quickly pulled his hood back on and yanked the cloak away from the sheep.

She knew only one person with that kind of hair, but could it be…? She moved closer and squinted in the dark. "Bakura…?" she asked and the man spun around in surprise. He had a knife in his hand and he pointed it at her.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, moving closer to her, the point of the knife pointing at her throat. She used her index finger and moved the knife away but he moved it back towards her throat, but she didn't move back. It really was Bakura unless fate was cruel and it was another boy with the same name and hair, but she highly doubted that. His hood fell off again when another sheep pulled on it. He looked at the sheep and yanked his cloak away again. It really was Bakura! It was quite hard to see in the dark, but he looked pretty much the same except more mature and handsomer unless the darkness was tricking her eyes.

"It's me," she said in a quiet voice. Did he not remember her? She didn't think she looked that different, "Meskhenet."

Bakura glared at her for a moment but then looked rather surprised. "Khenet…?" he said and she laughed. So he was still calling her that. She nodded and he put the knife away in his sash. "Well, look at you," he looked her over and she somehow felt awkward at that action. "You've grown quite well."

She laughed awkwardly. "Thank you?"

"What are the odds that we would ever meet again?" yes, what were the odds? The gods could be cruel but they could be nice too. They had entwined her and Bakura's fate once more and she was really thankful for that. It was good to see someone from long ago again. She wanted to hug him but after his comment, she felt rather odd if she did hug him so they just stood there awkwardly. "What are you doing here in Mallawi?"

Oh, yes, she no longer lived in Beni Suef, not after what happened to their farm. Now they lived in Mallawi so it was closer to the capital, but not too close, just right in the middle. "I live here now," she answered. "What are you doing here?"

"Hmm," he didn't answer and she wondered why.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again…" she said, looking down at her hands. "I never got to say goodbye."

"Goodbye is useless now," he said. "I'm here now." That was true, but she didn't know if he was going to stick around. So much had happened since then, what should she say to him? Oh, Ra, she felt overwhelmed with emotions but she was a woman now not the little girl that he met. And he wasn't the little boy she met back then. He was a man now. They both had grown and they knew things that they hadn't known back then, things weren't going to be the same… she suddenly felt sad, their relationship couldn't be the same. The gods were cruel.

He was silent for a moment as she bit her bottom lip. "I wasn't aware you wanted to marry a ram."

She looked up at him. _Ra, how embarrassing!_ He heard her talking to the sheep. "No! I—you—awww!" she stomped her foot in frustration and he laughed at her. She pouted. "You weren't supposed to hear that!"

"I suppose everyone has something weird about them and I just found out what was weird about you," he continued to laugh at her. Ra, she wished she died out of embarrassment. "I won't tell anyone. It can be a secret between the two of us. I won't let the ewes know either that you have an eye out for their ram."

"Stop laughing! I wasn't serious!"

"Oh?" he stopped laughing but smirked at her.

She desperately wanted to change the subject. She racked her brain for something, anything! "Are you hungry?"

"Hmm?" he was silent for a moment. He probably was but wouldn't admit it but he finally answered, "No."

"No?" she asked, surprised.

"You don't have anything to eat."

She looked at him in disbelief. What made him say that? "Why do you assume that?"

"Because I checked."

"You what?!"

"Yes, just a little while before you came back with your sheep friends."

"You were searching my house? How'd you get in?" she couldn't believe it. He searched her house, for what? Was he trying to steal from her?

He smirked down at her. "I'm a thief."

"Yes, that much I know," she said. "But—but why?"

"I wasn't aware it was your house. The baker said the shepherd had my horse and he kindly directed me here. I wasn't going to wait outside forever, who knew when this shepherd would come home after all? So I invited myself in," the Bakura she knew wouldn't have done that. He probably would've broken into the back and take the horse. He apparently got quite bold as he grew. She wasn't happy. "You know," he said in thought. "When we first met I was stealing your horse, but now you've taken mine."

"I didn't steal your horse. You carelessly and _stupidly_ left your horse out to die. I saved your horse," she said, trying to hurt him but he still smirked at her and gave a mock bow.

"Well, then thank you kindly for saving my horse."

"Do not mock me!"

He turned away from her, chuckling, he mounted his horse and turned his horse to the fence. The sheep scattered out of the way when the horse neighed and snorted. Meskhenet looked up at him angrily. He was so infuriating! He looked at her. "I suppose I will be seeing you around." And he took off; his horse jumped the fence and galloped off, leaving Meskhenet in the dark alone with the sheep.

Wait, did that meant she was going to see him again? She felt kind of happy at that but she was still embarrassed that he heard her talking to herself. She made a note not to say anything embarrassing out loud again. She smiled to herself; at least she knew he was alright.


	7. Chapter VII: The Shepherd

Chapter VII: The Shepherd

Meskhenet wasn't paying attention at her magic lesson today; she was lost in thought about Bakura. Zaim was too tired to chastise her so he let her go early. She stood near a street vendor with her sheep and crook. Some of the children came over and petted the sheep. She was leaning on a street vendor selling apples; she was hoping to see if Bakura was going to show up. She wasn't quite sure when she was going to see him again or if he was even still in town, but she stupidly hoped she would. He was bound to get hungry and should appear in the marketplace, she reasoned to herself.

"Your sheep are so soft," a little girl said as she hugged a big fluffy sheep. _Oh, Ra, I have to shear them._

"Yes, enjoy it while it lasts, they are going to get naked soon," she said to the little girl but the girl didn't seem to understand. She continued to stroke the sheep and some of the sheep came over to the girl and licked her.

"Baaa!" a sheep said, looking at Meskhenet with its lined pupil. It was screaming for her to take them down to the Nile so they could eat. _Those pigs…_

The seller of the apples placed his hands on his hips and glared at her. "How long are your sheep going to be here? You're scaring my customers."

"Yes, but look at all the children that have come," Meskhenet said to the seller. He 'hmphed' her and went to polishing his apples with a clean cloth. More children were coming to pet her wooly sheep. Bakura finally came over, he was checking out the street vendors, but then he spotted Meskhenet and raised an eyebrow at her. She pretended not to notice him and went to talk to the children about the sheep. What was she doing? She was being so odd.

He came over and some of the children looked at him and ran off, some of them stayed with the sheep that were getting restless. "Word is that there is a witch in town that turns helpless citizens into sheep." She turned around and he was smirking at her. Was he still mocking her? Did he find it funny to make fun of her? The boy she met when she was a child was so reserved and quiet; he'd never make fun of her. Then again, the girl she was wouldn't be standing around here like an idiot, waiting for him for no real reason other than to see him.

He was wearing a light tan shendyt around his waist that reached his knees. He had a blue sash tied over it. He had no shirt on or his cloak. She could've sworn he was wearing a tunic or blouse last night. _Ugh, why am I thinking about that?_ "Well, it is interesting what people can come up with," she said.

"What are you doing?" he asked, smiling. "Your sheep look quite wooly."

"Yes, well, I am…" ugh, she didn't think this through, "Just taking a stroll through the streets of town, heading off to the Nile."

"Really?" the seller said, shaking his head. _Oh no…_ "You've been standing here for hours and the Nile is west from your house."

Bakura quirked an eyebrow at her in amusement, she just smiled and ignored the seller. "Well, I guess I should be on my way," she said, pounding her crook in the sand.

"Yes, you should." The seller said haughtily.

She best got out of here before Bakura started asking things. The sheep started to crowd around them. "Alright, children, move along. The sheep need to eat." The children whined and 'aww-ed' but they went away. The sheep started to move on ahead without her. _Of all the times to make me look like a fool…_ she quickly rushed over to get in front of the sheep to lead them out to the Nile. She waved to Bakura. "I should be on my way."

"Yes, you said that," Bakura said.

"If you have nothing better to do, you can tag along if you'd like," she said, hoping he didn't have anything better to do. What did thieves do in their free time?

Bakura shrugged and followed after her. He came over to walk beside her, tossing an apple in the air and catching it. He was a lot taller than her then she last remembered. She felt so small; she hoped she would get taller as she grew. She tried standing on her tiptoes but tripped when the sheep bumped into her. Bakura looked at her weird as he stopped and all the sheep did too. Some try to bypass Meskhenet when she was down, but she quickly got up.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing," she hurriedly walked off. _How embarrassing…_ he could've at least offered his hand though.

All she managed to do with her first few moments of seeing Bakura again was embarrass herself. They walked to the Nile and she sent the hungry and whining sheep to eat and drink along the Nile. Bakura sat himself down into the soil and began to eat his apple. Meskhenet didn't remember seeing him buy that.

"So how is your magic?" he asked with a full mouth. She remembered he did that when he was a boy too. She was happy he remembered that she was training to be a court magician.

She smiled smugly at him. "It's going quite well," he continued to eat his apple. "Stop talking with your mouth full. It's impolite."

"Oh?" he swallowed his apple and spun it in his hands. "And who decides what's polite?"

She didn't know how to answer that. "I do," she said. He laughed at her answer. She didn't think it was funny. Frankly, she did decide what was polite whenever people were around her. Wasn't that what everyone did?

"Show me your magic," he said. She wasn't sure what to show him, Zaim told her to be careful when using magic outside especially when she wasn't with other magicians to fix any screw ups she made. So she did the same magic she did with the water yesterday. Many of the sheep went over to the water sprouts and began sticking their heads in there, drinking. The lambs ran under the archway again. Bakura laughed. "Your sheep seem to love your magic."

"I don't think that's funny…"

"No? Well, I do." She glared at him but he merely smiled as he finished up his apple. He was totally different from five years ago. He didn't seem to laugh or smile much back then but now it was like he found her whole existence a joke. "What? If you can decide what's polite then I decide what's funny."

She wanted to slap him. Instead of replying to him, she looked out at her sheep, sulking inside.

"Did I hurt your feelings?" he sounded very serious. He wasn't smiling or anything but she wondered if he was messing with her. She didn't answer him. "I'm not trying to."

She looked at him in surprise. Was that his way of an apology? It was pathetic! _At least properly say you're sorry._

She moved over in front of him and he looked up at her. "Did I change that much since we were children?" she spun around in front of him. He looked a little surprised at her but didn't answer. "You didn't recognize me last night."

Bakura looked her over again and she regretted asking that. Her heart pounded in her ears, what in Ra's name was wrong with her? She stared at him, waiting for an answer but her eyes wandered from his face to his chest. Where was his damn tunic? No! What was she doing?! He had a muscular built compared to his skinny boy self— _ahhh! Stop!_ She forced herself to look him in the eye and keep her eyes there. She hoped he would say no.

"Yes."

"Yes?" she said, offended. She sat down next to him so he wasn't directly staring at her whole body. "You didn't change that much." Actually he did, well besides his body muscles, he didn't change! He was still recognizable.

"You're a woman now. You definitely don't look like a girl," he said. She felt extremely awkward now. "Your body changed firstly and you even made your hair prettier." To emphasize his point, he flipped her hair off her shoulders and she leaned away from him.

"Alright, I get it now," she whispered.

One of the lambs hopped and jumped around them and another brought her some flowers. "How sweet," she said. It was the same Nile flowers that she first saw as a child. Her father called them nymphaea caerulea or 'blue lotus'. They were her favorite flowers.

"I remember those," Bakura said as he took one from Meskhenet. "I also recall a little girl saying how she liked my eyes."

Meskhenet looked at him then threw the flowers at his face. "I did not say that! I said they were blue like your eyes."

"Your personality changed too. You are very temperamental," he laughed. She slapped his shoulder but it had no effect. She felt like an open book with him but she still didn't know much about him. What had he been up to for the last five years? Stealing couldn't be the only thing he did for the last five years, right?

She suddenly got quiet, playing with the soil with her foot. "Your village," he got quiet too. "I'm sorry about your village." She looked at him, hoping for him to say something. Oh, Ra, she ruined the mood. "Bakura…?"

He looked at her. "It wasn't your fault. Don't cry."

"I'm not crying…"

"You look like you're about to." How was he able to just change the subject like that? She looked at him in the eye. Behind his laughing and smirking, she could see pain in his eyes. He was still hurt; maybe he thought laughing was the way to move on. To busy herself from remembering the pain and guilt of losing her mother, she stuck her nose in magic books, practiced all day until she was too exhausted to think about anything and when she wasn't doing that, she spent her time with the sheep. She didn't want to grow crops like she used to with her mother. Her father apparently felt the same way; he didn't even try to get any more farmland.

"This is what you do all day," he said as a statement, waving his hand towards the sheep. She guessed that was his way of changing the subject.

"Yes, I am a shepherd."

"Actually you're not," Bakura said serious. "Shepherds are men."

She looked at him indignantly. "I have a crook," she said, picking up her shepherd's crook. He looked unimpressed by that statement. "I do the same job as a shepherd therefore I am a shepherd regardless of my sex." She remembered the boy from yesterday called her a sheep lady.

"Well, that's interesting," he said seriously.

"What?"

"You're the prettiest shepherd I have ever seen." Her face flushed and she smacked his arm and he laughed. What was his deal? It's like he liked embarrassing her.

"You can go now," she said.

"I don't take orders from you," he said. "I'll leave when I want to." He placed his hands on the ground behind him and leaned back to look at the sky.

 _Please be now!_ But he didn't leave and she wasn't quite sure when he would, if he was going to spend the entire time with her, she had six more hours at the Nile and she wasn't sure she could take any more of it.

"How is your father?" he asked after a long moment of silent.

"He's alright. I mean, he's alive… but he's crippled," she frowned. "He cannot walk properly anymore without support. Half his body is…" she trailed off. She didn't really want to talk about her father's condition. He was sick and weak; he was not the man he used to be. The way the children looked at him too… _oh, Ra!_ She started to cry. She tried wiping the tears away but she couldn't. Apart of her still blamed herself for his condition and for her mother's death, but he never blamed her, not once, the first thing he said when he saw her five years ago was that he was so glad she was alright. It made her heart ache.

Bakura was silent for a long moment but then he placed his arms around her and brought her close to him. She was surprised by this. It was the first time he hugged her. She was still crying though but her heart was beating wildly. She felt like it was going to burst through her chest. She hoped he didn't feel it. His face was really close to hers too. _Oh, Ra…_ she was conflicted with emotions. She was still crying from the thought of her father's condition but she was also happy and embarrassed and her heart ached in more ways than one. She didn't want him to let her go but at the same time, she really wished he did.

"You told me once that a hug makes everything better. To be honest, I don't believe that entirely," he said. She wished he let her go. Why didn't she just pull away? "But you were right, it can't take away the fear but it can give you comfort and warmth." She clenched her eyes shut. That's what her mother said. He really was good at remembering things.

She placed her hand on his arm and pulled away. He was looking so serious; it just made her feel even more awkward. He wiped her eyes and cheeks, she leaned away from him and he looked a little upset at that.

"Thank you…"

"You're welcome," he said, turning away from her. He seemed a little embarrassed too and she giggled at that. "Now stop crying."

Like it was that easy, but she just giggled at him and he looked the other way.

* * *

Yes, I am aware that female shepherds are called shepherdesses, but I didn't think that in Ancient times women were shepherd; the only shepherdess I know is Bo Peep :P. This story takes place in the span of 6 years not including them as children (I probably should've mentioned that earlier), there is time skips clearly. Bakura is supposed to be a little nicer since this is 6 yrs before his whole vengeance thing, but not too much so that he's out of character hopefully?

Well, anyways, read and review! :3


	8. Chapter VIII: The Magician

Chapter VIII: The Magician

"What's wrong with you?" Zaim asked, tiredly as he placed a book down on Meskhenet's desk. She jumped a little. "You've been spacing out quite a lot lately."

"Oh, no, it's nothing," she said. She closed the book she had been reading. It was about fire magic, the next step of her training. She used that spell a couple of times when she was a child. It was feeble and weak, but maybe she could make the flames stronger now that she was older.

"I know I have you reading on elemental magic, but I want you to start working on strengthening your inner _heka_ ," Zaim said. "So you may start learning to summon your ka." She looked at him surprised. She wasn't even sure if her ka had a form, she never tried summoning it. Her father told her kas were strong and vulnerable and one should be careful when revealing their ka as that was a form of their life.

"By the way, the townspeople told me you were with someone," he said suspiciously. The townspeople feared Zaim or maybe loved him, whatever the reason; they always told him what was happening. "A boy…"

"A man," wait, she realized that sounded worse. "I mean…"

"Who? Do I know him?" Zaim seemed actually quite happy with Meskhenet. "Does he live around here or is he from Thebes?"

 _Oh, Anubis, take my soul now!_ What in Ra's name was she supposed to say? 'The thief boy who stole our horse is my best friend and I may have something for him because I just met him like a week ago'? That sounded wrong in all ways when she tried rearranging that in her head. Zaim was looking at her expectantly but she had nothing to say.

"It's no one important…"

"Come now, Meskhenet, it's important for me and your father to know what's going on with you," Zaim leaned in close to Meskhenet and she moved away.

"I think he left town…" she hadn't seen Bakura in a couple of days.

Zaim frowned and moved away. "Oh… but do you like him?"

She needed to change the topic now. "When will I get my staff?"

Zaim looked disappointed. "When you become a better magician then you will choose a staff."

"Most magicians have staves now," she said. She was like one of the few who didn't and it just felt wrong.

"The staff doesn't make the magician, Meskhenet," Zaim frowned. "You must learn to channel the magic first as a whole then you may use a staff to channel your magic further. The staff is used to direct attacks more precisely but this leads to clumsy work in magic should you find yourself without one. Learn to master a wide area of attack first then start slowly diminishing that area so your attacks may be precise without a staff then I will take you to get a staff. Don't make the staff a source of your power."

It sounded to her that he was saying staves were useless. He himself never used any staff. He looked out the window. "I must be going now." He left without waiting for her to even say anything. He probably was headed home to his son. She picked up the two books and got up. She placed the books in their respectful place at their designated shelves.

What time was it? She needed to shear the sheep; she had neglected to do so in the past week. The sheep were so wooly that they looked like walking balls of fluff. She turned to the window to check the sun's location in the sky but she jumped back when she saw Bakura standing in front of her window.

"Wh—what are you doing here?!" she asked angrily, holding her chest.

"You should really think of sealing this window. Anyone can just walk right into your house," he said. She walked passed him and lightly pushed him out of the way so she could see the sky.

"Only if they're stupid enough to climb through," she replied. The sun was still high, good, that meant it was afternoon. Perfect time to shear some fluff balls; she turned to him. He had his shendyt on and—thank Ra!—a tunic over it that fully covered his chest. "What are you doing here?" she asked again.

"I didn't have anything better to do so I figured I could pass the time here," he said, smirking.

He thought it was funny to mock her, huh? She gave him a sly smile and he raised an eyebrow at her expression. "Well, pass the time we shall," she said, grabbing his arm as she hoisted herself onto the sill. She climbed out, still clinging onto his arm, he jumped out after her and she led him to the back of her house where the sheep bleated. She pulled him along until they were in front of the crates in the corner of the yard, she picked up two shearing knifes and handed him one.

"What is this?" he asked, tentatively touching the blade of the knife.

Meskhenet pointed at the sheep. "It's a shearing knife. Help me shear the sheep."

"You want me to what?"

Maybe he didn't know what the word 'shear' meant. "Help me cut my sheep's wool," she said. He looked at her angrily.

"You want me to do peasant work?" he said as if he was better than her. _Yes, I do._

"Well, why not? You wanted to pass the time, didn't you? Or were you expecting something else?" she asked. She didn't want to go into any bizarre territory but she wasn't quite sure what he was expecting of her.

"I thought you were going to take them out to the Nile again or maybe that you would like to accompany me somewhere," he said bluntly.

"Where?" she asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him. _Better not be a room…_

"The Valley of the Kings," oh, so he wasn't thinking of anything weird. It was just her. _Stop being awkward, Meskhenet! Stop projecting your feelings as his!_

"The Valley of the Kings?"

"Yes."

"What for?" one sheep came over to her and bleated as if demanding her to shear them.

"Some thieving," he smiled cockily. Somehow, she forgot he was a thief. She shook her head. He pointed to her earring. "You wear that now."

She touched the earring. "Yes, you gave this to me for the replacement of my headpiece."

"It is funerary gold."

"I know? And your point is?" he laughed at her. "Stop laughing!"

"You don't find it wrong to be wearing that? You were against it when we were kids," she stared at him for a long while. It had been five years and the only reminder of him was the earring, she hadn't really thought of it as funerary gold. But that was beyond the point…

"We're not goats," she said and he looked at her, confused. "Kids are baby goats…"

"Nobody cares for proper terms. Here," he shoved the shearing knife to her but she shoved his hand away from her.

"I care for proper terms. I'm not a goat and will not be referred to as one. You're going to help me shear the sheep," as if in agreement the sheep bleated all around.

"No."

She laughed hollowly. " _You_ wanted to pass the time so help me shear!"

He looked down at her before turning away. "What do I do?" relieved, she sighed and went over to one sheep. She had trouble explaining to him properly but in the end, they only sheared half the sheep so fifty percent were naked and the other fifty were wooly. But Meskhenet had filled up some bags; she could probably go to town now and sell it. Her stomach growled loudly and Bakura looked at her as he tied the last bag up into a knot.

"Are you hungry?" _stupid question_ , she thought but she didn't say anything. "You should get something to eat or do you want me to get something for you?" he smiled. She knew what he was referring to. She instantly protested. She wasn't going to have him steal on her behalf.

"Let's go sell the wool," she was about to grab one of the bags but stopped herself as she looked at him. "Wait here for a moment," she took off at a sprint and went back into her house. She rummaged through her father's clothes and pulled out what she needed. She ran back to Bakura, dodging some of her sheep. "Here."

"Now what?" he asked, dropping one of the bags he had picked up and yanking the clothes from her. It was one of the hooded robes that her father wore. "What's this for?"

"Put it on," he hesitated but slipped it on and she pulled the hood over his face. "So people can stop recognizing you."

"Are you ashamed of being with me?" he asked angrily. No, that wasn't it. She didn't want Zaim finding out who he was.

"No, no, it has nothing to do with that. I just want Master Zaim to stop asking me questions. The whole townspeople are like spies for him."

"And your point is…?"

"He's going to recognize you as the boy who stole our horse."

"What do I care? He can't do anything."

"He can throw you in the dungeons!'

Bakura laughed. "It didn't stop me than and I was only a naïve little boy. It certainly isn't going to stop me now."

She shook her head. "Just wear it and come on," she picked up a bag and went on her way without waiting for him. The sun was beginning to set and she was really hungry. They sold the wool to some weavers for a decent price, she promised to bring the rest of the wool tomorrow. She had enough money to buy some food since Bakura was with her; she decided she'd get something for him too or maybe get some ingredients to cook.

She handed him some of the money which were copper and silver shapes of sheep with some coins. "Is this your idea of money?"

 _Was he expecting gold?_ "Yes, it is," she replied dryly. "Buy something if you like, don't _steal_ anything, please."

Bakura looked rather disappointed at what she said and at the money. He picked up a silver sheep and turned it over in his hand. "You really love your sheep."

"Sheep are important," she said.

"Really?"

"Yes," they walked over to some street vendors. It kind of felt odd being with Bakura in a marketplace. Last time they were together they stole a bunch of food, but they were hungry and stupid children. She was a sophisticated woman now; she could afford to actually buy food. "Sheep make clothes for people, they can be—ugh, be eaten and people drink their milk. They are also a great way to attract children." Speaking of attracting children, horses were great at that too. "By the way, where is your horse? Where are you even staying? Do you live here?"

He chuckled. "So many questions, if only you had the answers," she frowned. He wasn't going to answer her at all? Maybe his horse died because he left it somewhere again. Poor beast…

They stopped at a vendor selling grapes; Meskhenet got a basket full of them and went over to get some apples. Bakura hadn't spent any of the money she gave him; he just followed her around the marketplace. Much to her disappointment, they were a lot of people here today meaning Zaim was going to hear of this.

Unfortunately, Zaim didn't need to hear of this from anyone because he was fast approaching them from the opposite direction. He was with his sister who was carrying his three year old son. Nakia was her name; she lived with Zaim and their wet nurse. She was once married but it was found that she was barren and her husband left her so she lived with her brother, but everyone in town loved her. She was kind and sweet unlike Zaim. Her hair was black and reached just passed her shoulders but she wore a light tan veil over her head so most her hair was covered; she had the same eyes as her brother and wore a light tan kalasiris that was quite slim fitting against her body. She was taller than Meskhenet but shorter than Bakura.

She noticed Meskhenet and smiled, walking over to her. Meskhenet stopped and Bakura did too. "Hello, Meskhenet, it's been a while. You don't visit us that often anymore," she said, she looked a little sad.

"Ah, that's because I am usually taking care of the sheep," Meskhenet replied.

"Oh, yes, your father works at the palace now, right?" Meskhenet nodded hesitantly, shifting her gaze to Bakura. If she recalled correctly, he didn't seem to like the palace or Pharaoh for that matter, maybe he was jealous. "Well, you should know you are always welcomed to our home."

Meskhenet smiled and thanked her. She lightly patted Issar's head, he was asleep. He looked a lot like Anya, he only had Zaim's eyes but he was a sweet child. Meskhenet wondered if Zaim was going to make him a magician, if so, maybe she could become his master like Zaim was to her—though she would be a lot kinder than Zaim ever was to her. Zaim came over to them and lazily looked at Meskhenet but then he turned his gaze onto Bakura who stared at Zaim with a dirty look.

"Is this your friend?" Nakia asked. Meskhenet nodded slightly and looked at Zaim. _Oh no, he recognizes him…_ "You don't look familiar, welcome to Mallawi." Bakura nodded to her and she laughed. "Not much of a talker, is he?" _Oh, how wrong you are_. "We best be on our way. It was good to see you, Meskhenet," Nakia looked at Zaim then bid them farewell and walked off, but Zaim didn't move, instead he kept looking at Bakura then he looked at Meskhenet. He looked angry and Meskhenet shrunk back a bit.

He walked right next to Meskhenet and turned to her. He didn't bother to lower his voice or anything. She looked at him, afraid of what he was going to say. "Don't get yourself in trouble," he glared at Bakura and walked off. She flinched at his words. He did recognize Bakura. She sighed, now he was going to give her hell tomorrow.

"Is he still your master?" Bakura asked suddenly.

"Yes…" she replied sulking. "He's not the same man he was back then."

"Hmm…" Bakura looked at Zaim as he walked over to Nakia and they both disappeared among the crowd.

After she had bought whatever she was going to eat tonight (grapes, apples and tiger nuts), she split her food with Bakura since he hadn't bought anything. She bid Bakura goodnight and took off in a rush without waiting for him to say anything. She hoped Zaim wasn't there but much to her disappointment he was standing in front of her house, looking at the night sky. She slowed down and he looked at her. _Don't ask about Bakura, please, please, please…!_

He didn't say anything until she was right at her door. "You shouldn't be wondering around at night. It's dangerous for a woman," he said nonchalantly. She had the strangest feeling that he was somehow directing that about Bakura. "Tomorrow, I'm taking you to the palace."

"Oh," she turned to him. _Well, that's odd…_ "To see my father?"

"No, I want you to meet someone," oh, not a potential suitor she hoped. "Don't worry; I'm not trying to arrange anything between the two of you. He's a magician like you, same age but he's a very powerful magician."

Oh, she wasn't sure how that was supposed to make her feel. But she smiled; it probably would be nice to meet a fellow magician. She hadn't seen any in quite a while. She opened her door. "Is that all?"

He didn't say anything for a long time; he wasn't even looking at her. He was lost in thought and it made Meskhenet scared. "That boy," he turned his gaze to her. "Is he the one you've been hanging around with?" She didn't answer and he seemed annoyed by that. "He's the same one from five years ago. Why is he here?"

"I don't know…"

"He's a thief. Is he the one stealing the items around town?" Ah, she forgot about that. The boy from a week ago mentioned that too. She couldn't answer, she didn't know. Bakura was a thief but he didn't seem like the kind of thief that would break in people's houses and steal items—well, sure he broke into her house but he hadn't taken anything… she didn't have anything to take besides spell books, but none of those were stolen, she suddenly became worried that maybe he was the thief. He hadn't told her where he was staying either. _Maybe I should ask him._

"Do you even know anything about him?" She suddenly felt very ashamed. "Meskhenet, he's nothing but trouble, stay away from him."

"You don't know him," she said in his defense. She couldn't really answer any of his questions, but Bakura was her friend and she didn't think he was a bad person. Sure, he made bad choices but he was only a thief because of what the world did to him. Zaim was also a product of this cruel world.

"And you do?" he was nearly shouting now.

"Yes, I do…" _no, not really,_ but she wasn't going to allow Zaim to bad mouth him.

"But you won't tell me?" she didn't reply. Zaim laughed bitterly. "Because you don't know him; he'll hurt you, stay away from him."

"He can't hurt me," she said. Zaim shook his head. "He won't hurt me."

"You think that because you think what you feel is love, but it's not."

"I'm not in love with him!"

"Meskhenet, he's a thief. He doesn't care—"

"He was there with me when I lost my way home!" she shouted back at Zaim. Zaim practically had fire in his eyes. He looked right about ready to kill her. "He brought me home, not you! When that stupid snake man came after us, he was there to help me. When we got captured by slave traders, he saved me. He brought me home! So don't act like he's some petty thief." She was shaking with anger now. She had never raised her voice against Zaim before, she was too scared to. She was getting too worked up over this; she should've just gone to bed.

Zaim shook his head and walked away. She wondered if she should apologize but she felt like she wasn't in the wrong. She hesitated but went inside her house and slammed the door behind her.

The next morning, she had filled the trough with water and made sure the sheep had food enough for today. She went to her study room and opened a book on fire magic. Zaim was probably preparing some horses to take her to the palace; she was worried he was going to bring up their little argument from last night. She resigned herself to apologize to him. It wasn't right for her to raise her voice against him. He was still her master and he took care of her when her father wasn't there.

" _Sedjet en sedjet_ ," she opened the palm of her hand and a flame appeared, dancing in the air. It wasn't practically a big flame but it was a lot better than what she used to do. She closed her palm and the flame disappeared. Hmm, if she kept practicing she might be able to catch a field on fire—not that she wanted to destroy a field or anything.

She heard someone take a bite out of an apple and turned around, Bakura was outside her window, eating an apple and petting a sheep. She walked over to him with her book of magic. "Morning," she said. She remembered what Zaim had said about the items around town going missing. She debated whether she should ask him.

"Morning," he said as he gave his apple to the sheep who had been chewing on his cloak.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes, to the Valley of the Kings. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me," he leaned on the sill.

"Oh, I can't. I'm heading to the palace…"

"What for?" he sounded angry.

"My master wants me to meet someone," he was still touchy about the palace and pharaoh. What was his deal?

"To marry?"

"No." He seemed satisfied at her answer.

"Of course not, you're going to marry a ram."

"Oh!" she said, frustrated and he laughed at her reaction. She fumed as Bakura petted the sheep next to him. Another one came up and stole the apple from the other one. "I was wondering… are…" she didn't felt right of asking him about the items. She felt like she was accusing him of it.

"What? Spit it out if you have something to say."

"Are you the one stealing the items around town?" she asked in a rush. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm not so low as to break into people's houses and steal their useless items," was his reply. She knew it. Zaim was wrong. "Did something of yours go missing?"

"No," she replied. "I don't have anything valuable."

The sheep bleated and Bakura petted the other sheep. She suddenly realized that the sheep were at the front of the house when they should've been in the backyard. "Oh Ra!" she ran to the door and slammed it open. Her sheep were lazily walking out from her backyard and into town. Some had parked themselves in front of her door and most of them were checking out the pottery of the other people's houses. "You let my sheep out?!"

"I didn't. The gate was opened," she must've forgotten to close the gate after giving them water! He could've at least closed it. She quickly ran to the backyard and grabbed her crook then ran around town, gathering her sheep. Bakura watched her in amusement, leaning on her window sill as the two sheep watched her as well. When she had rounded up all the sheep, she closed the gate and locked it. Bakura came over and applauded her.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt for you to help me out at times," she panted, leaning on the fence.

"If you want me to do something, ask me besides I did help you. I helped shear the sheep." She heard horses snorting and suddenly Zaim came over from the front. He had a travelling cloak on and held the reins to one horse that was gray in color. He paused and looked at Bakura but said nothing.

"Meskhenet, come, it'll take us two days to get there. We'll ride home with your father. Have you made sure your flock is taken care of?" he was completely ignoring Bakura. She supposed that was better than him engaging with Bakura. It might have led to a bloodbath.

"Yes, the goatherd said he'd be happy to look after our sheep until I have returned," Zaim was silent. She turned to Bakura. "Um, I will be away for some time." She rubbed her hand and looked down. It was hard to talk to Bakura with Zaim here. Bakura moved a stray lock of hair from Meskhenet's face and she blushed. She could feel Zaim's glowering eyes on them. She wondered if Bakura did that out of spite, whatever the reason was, it embarrassed her and sent her heart pounding.

"Let's _go,_ Meskhenet," Zaim said. Meskhenet quickly went over to him, he was glaring at her. She shrunk back and took the reins from him. He turned around and walked over to his bay horse. Meskhenet looked back at Bakura and saw him smirking at her. She turned away. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ Her heart was pounding in her chest. She always felt so warm when she was near him. Zaim was glaring at her from his horse and he continued to do so until they had left town.

"Um," she said when they were a good distance away. "I want to apologize for last night. I should not have yelled."

"You're a fool," Zaim said simply. She looked at him. Yes, perhaps she was. She sighed. They continued onto Thebes in silence. It took two days and Zaim refused to talk to her besides about magic. She got to practice her magic and seemed to advance quite a lot. Wind magic was really hard though and at one point while resting, Zaim asked about her ka. She tried summoning it but it took everything out of her. They stopped practicing magic after that and arrived soon after at the palace in Thebes.

It was really different from the other towns Meskhenet had seen. It was more organized, structured properly; people wore gold and better clothing. It was a busy town, the palace was situated at the back, large and glorious, and she felt very small within the town walls. They walked on foot, leading their horses by their reins. Zaim didn't seem affected at all by the town but Meskhenet was overwhelmed. Was she supposed to act different? If she went to the palace, would she meet the Queen or Pharaoh? What would she say to them?

So many questions… so many emotions, she wanted to go back home and lock herself in her study. Whenever someone greeted her, she shrank back and kept close to Zaim who walked on unperturbed. He stopped at a place that Meskhenet wasn't quite sure was for and handed the man their horses. Maybe it was a ranch of some sort, but when she asked Zaim, he didn't answer.

"So um… this magician," she said, trying to keep up with Zaim.

"His name's Mahad," Zaim said. "He is from the Hadiqa family. They come from a long line of magicians. There is another family here too; the Ishtar's but they are a different story."

"Are there a lot of magicians here?" This Mahad person sounded very intimidating. She wondered what he was like.

"Most of the high priests and priestesses know magic, but they don't necessarily identify themselves as such. The only ones I know for sure that are magicians are from the Ishtar House, the Re House and the Hadiqa House," she looked at Zaim closely. He had been a magician for almost all his life. She wondered why he wasn't a high priest.

"How come you don't serve the Pharaoh?" she asked. He stopped and she nearly smacked into him.

He was silent for a long time. "I made a lot of bad choices when I was young. I didn't hail from a magician household, I learned magic from my master in hopes of becoming a…" he paused and looked at her sadly. She had never actually known anything about Zaim besides that he was cruel and had a sister. She had never asked him about his life. "A court magician," she was surprised. He had the same dream as hers but he wasn't a court magician. He was living in a small town, teaching her magic and helping her father. "That dream didn't last long, things happened and I had to settle with reality. Enough about me; let us not keep Mahad waiting."

"I'm sorry," she said and he gave her a sad smile.

"My goal is for you to become a court magician. Rejoice, you are in the realm of the Pharaoh, the same realm your brother entered eight years ago," he patted her head. That's right; Hakim came here to this very city so many years ago. She wondered if he felt the same way she was right now.

They entered the palace and went into a long hall with statues of the gods on one side and a water fall and fountain to the right. There were some servants wandering around, doing their jobs. There was a man in robes of light tan with a cape. He had a shiny bald head with some tattoos etched in his skin. He had a blue and gold belt with bands of gold on his biceps and wrists. He was talking with a woman who had dark brown hair that reached her lower back. She wore a kalasiris that was slim fitting and light tan with a golden sash around her waist, a dark green shawl at her arms and an emerald shade of green down the middle of her dress. She had gold jewelry decorated on her head and neck. There were two other people there. A man with blonde hair wearing a dark violet cape, he had a deadpan expression and there was a young man with brown hair that was long, his bangs looked like they were once even but were now growing out. He had some locks of hair over his shoulders on either side; he wore a robe of white with a gold collar and bands on his arms. He was a lot taller than her (like everyone in the hall).

The man with blonde hair looked so serious like someone had just died but the bald man and the lady seemed to be in a good mood and the young man looked kind. Zaim leaned in towards Meskhenet as they approached the four. He whispered, "That is Shada and his wife, Erina. Shada is a high priest and his wife, she's the official scribe to the Pharaoh," Meskhenet was rather surprised by that. She wasn't aware that the Pharaoh's scribe was a woman; she didn't even know scribes could be women. But it made her happy to know that. "The blonde man is from the Ishtar Household." So he was a magician too. He had very nice hair, she didn't see many people with fair hair—actually, Bakura was the only one she knew.

"And the young man is Mahad?" she asked. Zaim nodded. Shada noticed the two and turned to them.

"Ah, Zaim, it has been a while," he laughed and he and Zaim hugged. Erina bowed her head and Zaim returned the courtesy. He gave a curt nod to the Ishtar and greeted Mahad. "And who might this be?"

Meskhenet looked down out of embarrassment. Everyone looked so regal and fancy, she suddenly felt very self-conscious about herself. She noticed everyone had shoes and she didn't. The blonde man seemed to notice this too. "This is Meskhenet," Zaim answered for her. "Mind her; it's her first visit to Thebes."

"Welcome to the Palace," Erina said gently. Meskhenet thanked her but still refused to look up.

"You are Yaqeen's daughter," the Ishtar said. He wasn't asking her, he was merely stating that.

"Amon works with your father," Zaim said. She looked up to meet Amon's eyes, they were honey brown but they stared right passed her like she wasn't there. She shrunk away from him.

"Mind Ishtar," Erina said. "He may seem intimidating, but he's quite the loving husband," she chuckled and Amon looked at her. "Are you here to see your father?"

"Actually, I wanted her to meet Mahad," Zaim replied. The young man, Mahad, had been quiet. Amon took his leave, bowing slightly before going the opposite direction. Meskhenet found him a bit rude but said nothing. "She is a magician in training, though she isn't as skilled as you."

 _What are you doing?_ She looked at Zaim then at Mahad and blushed. He merely smiled at her. She was embarrassed. They were the same age but he apparently was skills ahead of her. He didn't have an air of arrogance about him though.

"I believe hard work makes the more honest magician than the talented ones," Mahad said modestly and Shada laughed.

"You're being modest, Mahad," he said but Mahad shook his head.

"If one can reach the same level as a talented magician by hard work that makes them all the more knowledgeable," he looked directly at Meskhenet and she realized he had grayish blue eyes. She had never seen anyone with that eye color. "I believe one day you will be a very powerful magician."

"Thank you," she whispered. She felt like a fool for not being able to say anything more than that. She heard some giggling and saw a little boy peer out from behind one of the pillars. He had spiky hair that was a unique tricolor with red violet, black and blonde, there were two little girls with him. One had dark brown hair and the other had pink hair. Mahad turned to the pillar and the boy ducked behind the pillar.

Erina chuckled. "Well, I best be getting back to the Pharaoh," Erina said and the boy came out from behind the pillar just as she walked away.

"My prince!" Mahad said in a stern voice.

"Ah, can I see Father?" the boy asked and Shada shook his head.

"No, my prince, the Pharaoh is very busy at the moment," he replied but the two little girls came out.

"You're supposed to be at your sword lessons," Mahad chastised, walking over to the Prince. Meskhenet was surprised at how young the prince was. She always thought that he was older than her or the same age, but he was rather petite for a boy and she thought he was very cute. He had unique violet eyes.

"Mahad, come with us!" the brunette little girl said, grabbing onto Mahad's hand and trying to pull him but he was taller than her and her pulling him had no effect. The pink haired little girl who resembled the prince a bit (perhaps she was the princess?) darted passed Mahad and caught up with Erina who took the little girl's hand. The prince tried to do the same but Mahad held him back.

"You have a lesson with Zain and Master Abd Al-Hamid," the prince struggled to get out of Mahad's grasp but Mahad was resilient. Zaim chuckled and Mahad turned to them. "Ah, I apologize, Master Zaim, but I must take the prince to his lessons."

"Come on, Mahad! You should meet Zain!"

"I cannot right now," Mahad said to the little girl who pouted. "My prince, you mustn't keep Master Abd Al-Hamid waiting."

"No, Mahad, let me go see Father!"

"The Pharaoh is not well, my prince," Mahad said and the prince stopped but he looked like he was about to cry. Meskhenet didn't know much about the affairs of the royals or nobles, but what was wrong with the Pharaoh? She turned to Zaim who was staring at the children fondly.

"What is wrong with the Pharaoh?" she asked. Shada turned to her, looking almost panicked.

"Ah, it is nothing to be of concern," he said quickly. "Prince Atem, listen to Mahad. You may see the Pharaoh tonight," the prince looked dejected but he let Mahad lead him and the little girl away. Shada said goodbye and headed off after his wife. Meskhenet watched Shada go and looked at Zaim.

"The Pharaoh has not been well as of late," Zaim answered, looking at Meskhenet. "It's no secret here, but do not let anyone else know. The Palace wants to keep it a secret for now."

Meskhenet figured it was because of invaders, should they find out the Pharaoh was weak, they would try to invade Thebes. "What will happen should the Pharaoh pass?"

"A great mourning," Zaim replied. "The Great Wife will then proceed to rule Egypt until the prince is of age. The Pharaoh's Court will be of little service, the Queen's Court will take over."

Her father worked for the Queen's Court. She didn't really like the idea of him being more active; wouldn't that mean he would stay in Thebes more often? He was too old and weak for that. She hoped the Pharaoh got better though, she didn't know much about him but her father always said the Pharaoh was a great man and seemed to admire him.

"I wish you had more time to speak with Mahad," Zaim said as they started to walk out of the palace. "He could have taught you a thing or two." She didn't like how he said it. It was almost as if he was implying she wasn't a good magician at all. "Perhaps you will meet him again."

"He seems very nice," she said simply.

"Yes, he has also been chosen to wield the Millennium Ring or perhaps he already has it? I can't quite remember."

The Millennium Ring! She knew that was one of the seven items created eight years ago. That must have been a great feat! She also thought that meant he must have been really strong. Her father also said the Millennium Items were stronger than the Akhet Items. Now she wished she could have talked to him more… he might have been able to give her some pointers on magic.

"Will I be able to meet him again?"

"Perhaps, but not now…"

She wondered when but didn't question Zaim further. They went back to town and she stayed at an inn with Zaim. The inn room was rather small but it had a bed! Two in fact right next to each other with a small gap in between. Meskhenet took the bed next to the window and flopped down onto it. It was her first time on a bed and it felt good! It was cozy and soft, a drastic change from the floor which she always slept on.

She wondered how Zaim was able to afford this, but Zaim had taken off to go get some food. He had told her on the way here that they would be staying in Thebes for a couple of days then meet up with her father and head back home. She wondered if the sheep were going to be alright. Hmm, the goatherd should know what he was doing. Sheep were pretty similar to goat, right? She didn't actually know.

She crawled over to the pillows and fluffed them. They were soft too. She grabbed one and hugged it. She wondered what Bakura would be doing at this time? Maybe robbing a tomb, did he rob tombs? She didn't know. What did he do for fun? Did he have friends outside of her? He seemed to visit her quite often, maybe he just liked to mock her… she decided she would really ask him when she got back.

* * *

I confused myself with the staff thing, pfft. Well, anyhow, some credits: Erina is not my OC, she's my sister's OC who's married to Shada. Atem's sister is Sky Spark's OC. Amon is my other OC, 'Zain' was not shown but that's Star Moriko's character. You should get who Amon is related to, yes?


	9. Chapter IX: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Chapter IX: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Meskehent was splashing the water with her feet. She wasn't at the usual part of the Nile where she took the sheep to eat and drink, she was near some falls with lush green islands and trees growing here and there. The falls were really loud, one fell from above and there was a break before another small one fell down below. She, her father and Zaim had returned home not so long ago. Now that her father was back, he insisted he shepherded the sheep while Zaim accompanied him. She didn't really like her father going out a lot, he wasn't well but Zaim was there so she supposed it was okay.

Since Zaim was with her father (probably pestering him about her marriage and the fact that her friend was a thief), she didn't have any magic lessons with him. She decided it was the perfect time to practice magic. She poof-ed a spell book in front of her and grabbed it, leafing through the book to a specific spell she wanted to try. It was a spell of levitating objects.

"Let's see," she said to herself as she rolled up her sleeves which did little good as they fell back at her wrists. She pointed to some rocks across the water, "Levitate!" the rocks shook, but that's all they did. She struggled to lift them with magic but it was no good, maybe she should try and lift something lighter. She looked at her spell book. She put it down in front of her and tried the magic spell on the book, it shook and the pages flipped and it slowly rose from the ground. "Yes!" but the book dropped down onto the ground.

She tried it again and it rose higher but every time she got excited, it stopped working. She soon got tired of trying to levitate the book and decided to practice other spells. She did her water fountain trick then made the water rise up in the shape of a sheep and made it dance around the falls. She tried splitting the waterfall like an archway but she only managed to split it open enough for a rat.

"What else should I try?" she chanted her fire spell and a flame appeared in her palm. It was warm and it ever so lightly licked her fingers and palm. Bakura reminded her of fire, he was always so warm, her heart beat loudly—oh, what was she doing? The flame in her hand increased in size and she freaked out, dropping the flame into the water. It disappeared in smoke. What was that? Did her thoughts of Bakura make the fire stronger? _No, that can't be…_ she summoned the flame once more but this time cupped it in her hands and watched the fire grow slightly in size. She moved one hand over the flame and the fire changed shape until it was a swirling ball of fire. She separated her hands slightly and the fire grew, but not as much as it had before. She frowned. She placed her hands together and the fire disappeared. She summoned it again and concentrated, willing the fire to grow in size but it didn't. She willed it to dance on her fingertips and the fire slowly split into five and raced up her fingers, dancing on the edge of her fingertips.

She reached down onto the surface of the water and touched it with the fire and the fire escaped her fingers, dancing on the water's surface as they moved over to the center and swirled. She concentrated the fire to grow in size, the fire swirled and swirled, rising higher and higher but it took a lot of concentration. She gasped and lost her concentration, the fire was eaten by the water.

She sat down next to her book, exhausted. She really wished she had a staff, it probably would consume less energy but Zaim was determined for her to master magic without a staff. He wanted her to learn to summon her ka, but she wasn't quite sure how. How was she supposed to project her soul? She closed her eyes and concentrated deep, deep inside of her, blocking out all other thoughts of worldly matters. She found darkness and wondered what was she supposed to see? She didn't like the dark, it was cold and scary. She thought of warmth and pictured a fire but then the image of Bakura came to her mind.

"Ah!" she gasped, opening her eyes and holding her hand to her chest. Why did Bakura have to interrupt her thoughts?! Why did she keep thinking about him? Try as she might to think they were just friends, there was something in her that screamed for something more than friendship! _It isn't love… I'm not in love._ She couldn't be, she laughed to herself. Her father always told her everyone had their own soulmate and she was quite certain Bakura was not her soulmate. What she was feeling was not love, it was something else—she missed him from all the years apart, but the feeling was confused with her inner desire for a man and he was currently the only man she actually knew that wasn't Zaim or her father.

 _He's just a friend_ , she told herself, taking a deep breath. She shook her head. Stop thinking about him! She went back to practicing her magic. By the time, she was done the sun was beginning to set. It was time for her to go home; her father was probably heading back with the sheep. She should try and cook something… but what? She could make some bread, yes, that's what she would do. She walked back, kicking up dirt and soil as she pranced back to town, humming to herself.

When she came back to town the sun was nearly completely gone, replaced by the starry night sky. She looked up as she walked on, placing her hands behind her. She still could see the shape of her father's ka among the stars. She wondered if Bakura still looked at the stars when he couldn't sleep, did he still have the dreams of the snake and the screaming people? Oh, right… those nightmares were brought on by the memories of his village's destruction.

How could he live life after going through that? Just hearing about it was horrible and made Meskhenet feel sad, but she knew experience was totally different from stories. What he went through no child should've gone through it. She remembered thinking that he was lonely when he was a child and wondered if it was the same even now? She couldn't get a good grasp of him, he came often whenever he could but he never talked about himself. He was guarded like he didn't trust her.

She slowed down her pace and looked down at the sand. Then why did he come to visit her often? She didn't know, maybe they both were just trying to hold onto their friendship from the past? She looked at the townspeople as they retreated to their homes for the night. Vendors closed up and friends said goodbye for another day. _Yes, that's it…_ people were liars; the world was full of lies. They wore fake smiles and pretended like nothing was wrong, striving to get through the hardships of life. Bakura wasn't different and neither was she.

She pretended that her mother's death didn't bother her, that she wasn't affected by the abuse Zaim did to her when she was a child and that her father's complications were not her fault, but in truth those had eaten at her. She couldn't live with herself if she accepted the truth so she lied. Bakura probably was doing the same.

This was surviving, not living…

 _Ah, what am I thinking?_ She shook her head. She was entering dangerous thoughts. She shrugged it off and went on her way home. The sheep bleated from the back signaling her that her father had beaten her home. When she came in, her father was at the study and Zaim was not there. Somehow when she was with her father, she felt like she could be herself and didn't have to worry about anything. He made her feel safe.

"Hello, Father," she hugged him from the chair he sat at. She kneeled down next to him. He was looking at a book about kas. "Are you hungry?"

"Ah, no," he coughed a bit.

"Have you eaten already?" she asked worried.

"No, I am just not hungry," he replied, coughing some more. She wondered if he was alright. He flipped through the book, not concerned at all. "Zaim tells me that you have been spending time with a boy—ah, man." Of course Zaim didn't speak about that to her father when she was present. She didn't really know how her father felt about Bakura. She had already told him the tale of what she went through with Bakura five years ago.

"Yes," she replied. "I have…"

"He's worried about you."

"Bakura isn't bad, Father."

"Is this why you have been refusing to marry?" her father looked at her, chuckling. She blushed. No, it wasn't. Bakura was just a coincidence.

"No," she said.

"No?"

"No."

Her father laughed. "Alright, so he is only a friend?" She nodded. "Well, I suppose that puts my old heart at ease. I was frightened that my daughter had an eye out for a man she just met again two weeks ago."

She was glad her father hadn't said 'thief'. She smiled at him. He started to cough. She got up. "Do you need some water?" he waved her off.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I think this old goat needs to get some sleep." He got up with the help of his staff. "Hmm, Mes, where is my cloak? I had trouble finding it."

 _Oh!_ She had forgotten that she had given it to Bakura and didn't take it back. Her father didn't really seem worried, she had a feeling he knew what happened to it. "I'll get it back, sorry, Father."

He chuckled and kissed her on the forehead. "Goodnight, Mes."

"Goodnight, Father," she kissed him on his cheek and he left to his room.

The next day, Meskhenet's father took the sheep out and Zaim accompanied him again. Meskhenet went to go look for Bakura around town to ask for her father's cloak back but whenever she asked about him, no one seem to know who he was or where he was. Dejected, she decided to stay outside the marketplace like she did the first time but she waited there for some hours and he didn't show so she took off to practice her magic at the falls, maybe she would run into him later.

She walked over to the falls, looking at her feet and counting her steps as she went along. She heard a horse snort and looked up. She saw Bakura's black steed, grazing on some grass, it was tacked up and everything. He looked at her and she waved to the horse but the horse went back eating, ignoring her presence. She spotted Bakura taking off his shoes (how did he have shoes, she wasn't quite sure) and he spotted her and seemed to perk up a bit. She was quite happy too to see him, firstly because she needed her father's cloak but also for other reasons… _He's just a friend._

"Ah, Khenet, I was hoping you'd show up," he said, she stopped near his horse and looked at him confused. Odd comment, she wasn't aware that he knew about this place. He seemed to enjoy her confusion. "You came here yesterday."

"Oh," she said, rather surprised. Was he here? She didn't see anyone. "Were you here?" he pointed up at a tree at the top waterfall and she just gave him an even more confused look.

"I was up there, watching you," what? How long was he there? She didn't even know… somehow she felt embarrassed. _Oh no, did I say anything aloud?_ Yesterday, she had been thinking about him, she couldn't remember if she said something. "Your magic is really quite entertaining. I wasn't aware you could set the water on fire."

"Were you here the whole time?" She asked embarrassed.

"No, I have better things to do other than watch you all day," well, of course he did. She was relieved. He walked over to his horse and pulled something out from one of its bags. He gave it to her. "Here, you took off the other day that I couldn't give it back to you." She took it from him; it was her father's cloak! Just the thing she was looking for, it was folded neatly and looked quite clean. "I washed it so your master wouldn't complain about it." She looked up at him. That was nice of him…

She laughed a little. "This isn't my master's. This is my father's."

"Same difference."

"No, they are not," she said offended. "My father is a good man, he's kind and caring. Don't compare him with my master." Bakura merely waved it off like it was nothing, but Meskhenet didn't like that. Zaim may have changed but he was still leagues away from being even close to her father. "Take it back."

"Alright, stop being so touchy," he said, looking a little annoyed.

She assumed she would just have to take that as an apology. She looked down at Bakura's shoes on the side of his horse. He was wearing the same clothes from the other day (the one where he wasn't half naked). "So what are you doing here?"

"I was just going to clean myself, that's all."

"Oh," he was smiling at her, the same mocking smile he kept giving her. She wondered what was up and then she realized he was going to bath in the same area she had been training at. How long had he been doing that? Was he just doing that to mock her or had he been doing that the whole time?

He took off his tunic and handed it to her. She took it, "Hold that," he said. Why was he giving her his tunic? She was staring at his chest again and became red, she quickly looked down. Why did she always get like this? He was only a friend, who cares if he was muscular? To her utter shock, he started to untie his shendyt. She quickly grabbed his hand to stop him.

"What are you doing?!"

"I told you I'm going to clean myself. I can't very well do so with my clothes on," was he teasing her? Was he doing this on purpose? She was beginning to wonder if he liked torturing her.

"At least tell me to turn around! Have you no shame?!"

He laughed. "Shame for what? To be in the human's natural form?" natural form? She couldn't believe what she was hearing! He must've been joking. He had to.

She quickly turned around. He wasn't really going to do it, was he? To her horror, he threw his shendyt next to her feet and then she heard the water splash. He really did do it! She took a quick glance back and saw him emerge from the water but she quickly looked away. Her face was hot with embarrassment. She couldn't believe him. Her heart was pounding loudly and she felt like she was out of breath, like she was going to faint. Wait, why was she still here?!

"You know, you can come and join me if you want." That was her cue to leave.

She willed herself to run and run she did. She ran for dear life itself until she was quite some ways away and whether she was imagining it or not, she could hear him laughing at her. She bent down on the ground, out of breath. _Ammit, I brought his tunic with me!_ She would have to give it back to him unless she wanted to endure his half nakedness which she didn't think she could, not after today.

"Meskhenet," Zaim said, coming right in front of her. Oh, just the person she didn't want to run into. She got up and forced a smile. He looked confused but then saw what was in her hand and looked angry. "What is that?"

"Ah! Nothing!" she tried to hide it by placing her father's robe over it and putting it behind her back, but he had already seen it. He tried taking it from her but she took a step back. "What was it that you wanted again?"

He looked at her suspiciously. "Nakia wanted you and your father to come over and eat with us today. I'd like it if you met Skylar as well."

Oh, if she recalled correctly, Skylar was the wet nurse of Issar. She smiled. She was quite happy that Nakia still thought of them. "Well, I'd very much like that!"

"Alright," he glared at the tunic that she had behind her. "I should be getting back to your father. What exactly are you doing?"

"What? Me? Haha, I um… was just heading back over to town," he squinted his eyes at her. He paused for a moment but left and Meskhenet sighed. He probably figured she had been with Bakura. She looked at Bakura's tunic; it felt warm like him… _Ah, I sound like some freak._ No, no, no, she needed to return the stupid thing. She took a deep breath and walked right back the way she came. She hoped Bakura was done with his cleaning, the stupid jerk.

When she approached the falls, she was inching slowly closer, taking quick glances upward. His shendyt was no longer on the floor and she hoped that meant it was safe to look up. His horse was still grazing. "Oh, you came back. If you came back for the earlier offer, it's too late now. I'm done." He said rather smugly, walking over to her, like she even cared to bath with him. She shoved his tunic to him.

"No. I came to return this," he took it from her and slipped it on. "Well, I will be going now."

"You're not going to practice your magic?"

"Are you mad?! You just bathed in there!" and she ran off again without waiting for him to say anything.

* * *

The story never refers to Zaim as a sorcerer, only a magician. The only reason the chapter is called Sorcerer's Apprentice was just a Mickey Mouse reference :P. I didn't intend the falls to look like the one from the series, I know Star Moriko pointed that out before. Welp, read and review!


	10. Chapter X: The Girl

Chapter X: The Girl

It had been some months since Meskhenet had first saw Bakura again. It was flooding season or as they called it the months of Akhet were upon them. The town had celebrated _Wafaa El-Nil_ ; Meskhenet hadn't been too interested in the seasons since she stopped being a farmer. She saw Bakura here and there and still hadn't learned much of him, she only knew that he loved to laugh or simply laughed a lot. He enjoyed tormenting her and at times he was very foul mouthed. She had learned some things of Zaim too: one was that he could literally go red with anger, at one point he nearly caught his entire clothes on fire when he saw Meskhenet on top of Bakura (it was a complete accident) and the other was that he seemed to have a liking towards Skylar.

She also learned that she liked it better when Zaim pretended that Bakura didn't exist because whenever he acknowledged his presence, the two of them couldn't be found in the same room without throwing insults or trying to kill each other. Meskhenet's father kept shepherding the sheep when he was home and it worried Meskhenet; he didn't seem to want her around either and told her to practice her magic which kind of made her sad. Instead, Zaim went with him often and Bakura was with her at times too.

She was currently shopping at the marketplace. She wanted to cook her father something. She was worried, he hadn't been eating a lot as of late and he was continuously coughing. Whatever money he gave her or whatever money they made from the wool of their sheep, Meskhenet tried to save as much as possible to have a doctor come and visit him. She didn't tell him that though since he kept refusing and saying he was fine.

"Meskhenet!" someone called and Meskhenet looked around. A girl around the same age as her came running over and grabbed her hand, shaking it. She recognized the girl as Maat, one of her friends who had been married off to some young man a couple years ago. Maat had pretty green eyes with long black hair that was often covered by her scarf over her head. She was wearing a white scarf and a simple tunic.

"Maat!" Meskhenet hugged her. Maat was the daughter of the goatherd and although unlike Meskhenet, Maat didn't work with any of the goats, she loved animals and was really good at sewing (something Meskhenet needed work in). Maat laughed. "Oh, gods, it's so good to see you!"

"I know!" Maat smiled. "It's nice to see a familiar face."

"Indeed," that made two friends Meskhenet had seen in the last few months. "How is um…"

Maat giggled, "Hu."

"Yes, Hu," that was the name of Maat's husband. Meskhenet had never met him.

"He is doing fine. His parents have been asking about children but we're still undecided," Meskhenet was still at the 'trying to get married stage' it was rather odd to hear that one of her friends was at the 'child considering stage'. "What about you? Are you married yet?"

"No."

"No?" Maat laughed. "Oh, my, Meskhenet, do you not like any of the men here?" Meskhenet looked around. She didn't know the other young men very well. Most of them were younger than her as the older ones had already left to try and find jobs at the capital. Whatever men were left were nearly ten years older and older. Meskhenet wasn't interested in marrying an old man. She didn't need her husband dead by the time they had children. She spotted Bakura talking to some other girl. She quickly looked away so Maat wouldn't notice where she was looking. "Oh, I don't recognize him. Do you know him?"

"Sort of…"

"He looks… nice," Maat was rather hesitant. "I mean… he looks a little intimidating." Meskhenet laughed. _Oh no, he is pure evil. He'll try to take your virgin eyes away._ "Well, I'm sure there'll be nicer men that come along."

"What are you doing over here? I thought you moved to Mn Nefer?"

"Oh, we're heading to the capital," Maat looked happy about that. "Hu's training to be a scribe."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" climbing the hierarchal ladder was every poor boy's dream. Girls' only luck was to marry a rich man in order to move up the pyramid. She was happy for Maat, which meant Maat didn't need to live a peasant life.

"Are you still studying magic?"

"Oh, yes, I have very much improved since the last time we saw each other." Meskhenet wanted to show Maat her magic but Maat looked a little sad. "Are you staying here for a while?"

"Unfortunately, we're only passing by."

"Oh…"

"Yes," Maat hugged her again. "But it was really good seeing you. I hope you obtain your dream as a court magician, maybe we'll get to see each other again when you go to the capital."

Meskhenet smiled. "Yes, perhaps we will." She hugged her again, this time longer. She really wished she had more friends to spend time with. Maat said goodbye and Meskhenet turned to go buy some more food.

Everyone seemed to be moving on with their lives but here she was in the same place she had been for the past five years. She felt stuck like the wheel of time had stopped here. Maybe the only way for it to start moving was to get married like all the other girls her age. She subconsciously looked at Bakura. He was still talking to the other girl and Meskhenet wondered who the girl was. Another friend perhaps…

She picked up some apples and paid the seller but when she turned around Bakura was in front of her. She wondered why he was still lingering in town; didn't he have some other town to go to? Maybe the wheel of time for him was stuck too…

"Hello," she said rather gloomily.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you alright?" he took one apple from her basket and started eating it. He had made that a habit actually; he kept eating from her whenever she bought something. She should make him pay gold each time he did that.

"Nothing, I was just thinking of the future…"

"Is the future so dark for you? I thought you wanted to be a court magician," he was still talking with his mouth full. He threw his arm on her shoulder and she started to blush. She tried moving away but he kept her close.

"No, it's nothing like that. You're lucky you were born a male," she said.

"Why's that?"

"People don't expect you to get married and bear children," she said. It felt rather odd to talk to a male that wasn't her father about her female problems. She expected him to laugh at her. He probably had bigger problems to worry about that her stupid marriage issue. But to her surprise, he didn't laugh.

"Is your master still bothering you about that?"

She laughed. "My master isn't the only one that asks me about that." She was bracing herself for him to make a joke about her ram. "Anyway," she grabbed his hand and moved his arm off her. She walked on backwards. "Who was the girl that you were just talking to?" even though she was trying to tease him, a part of her ached a bit.

"No one important," he said. "I was asking about the shops around here."

"Oh, alright," she didn't really believe him. They were talking pretty long for it to just be about shops.

"Did you know today is the day that I was born."

She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Was she supposed to congratulate him? "Oh, that's… wonderful."

"When were you born?"

" _Wep-renpet_ , fourth month of harvest," he seemed to be deep in thought. "How old are you now?"

"Sixteen, you're about the same age, yes?"

"Fifteen…" he looked her over and she wasn't quite sure she liked that. "Well, that's great I guess…"

"Come on," he grabbed her wrist and pulled her along.

"W—wait, what are you doing?"

"We're heading over to the falls," he wasn't exactly giving her a choice. She didn't have much things to do at home so she supposed she could tag along but she slowed down and he pulled her along.

"You're not going to clean yourself over there, are you?"

"No. Speaking of which," he stopped and turned to her. "When do you bath?"

"As if I'll tell you!" she stomped away and he laughed at her. She used to bath with her friends when she was younger, but since most of them had married and left, she had taken to bathing at night when no one was there. She hadn't told her father that, she didn't want him worrying about her wandering around at night alone. They walked over to the falls and she decided she would head back before sunset so she could beat her father home and prepare something for him.

Bakura sat down and took her basket from her; he looked through her food and picked out some grapes. The Nile was higher than usual so they sat some distance away then they usually did.

"Why are we here?"

"Perform something for me," she looked at him angrily. She wasn't some slave or servant to him, why was he telling her what to do?

"I'm not some dancing girl. I don't perform for people."

"No. But you want to be a court magician; you'll be entertaining people just the same, so perform some magic." He had a point but she didn't like how he said it. She sat down next to him and took the grapes from him.

"I'll perform a magic trick for you every time you answer a question," she stuffed some grapes into her mouth. He took the grapes back.

"Oh, is that your idea of a game?"

"No, it's my idea of payment."

He thought for a moment, looking up at the sky. She was staring at his eyes but when he looked at her, she looked away. "Alright, we'll play your little game. But not only do you perform a trick for me, but you have to answer my questions as well. Ask away." She didn't really see that as fair but if that was going to get some information out of him, she decided she would just have to take it.

"Where do you live?" She asked and he laughed. "I'm serious."

"Why are you so curious?"

She snatched the grapes away. "I'm asking the questions right now," he quirked an eyebrow at her as she proudly gestured to herself with her hand. "You're so willing to get naked in front of me but you are unwilling to tell me where you live or stay."

He was silent for a moment, watching her eat but then he took the grapes back. "I sleep on top of the baker's shop." She looked at him in surprise then narrowed her eyes. He was lying. "I'm not lying. I sleep on top of the baker's shop and in the morning, I steal some bread to eat. I leave my horse at the goatherd's farm and whenever I can, I try to map out the area. I answered your question, perform something."

She had almost forgotten about her end of the bargain. She waved her hand and the water bubbled and began to rise, taking form into the shape of a baby lamb. She made it dance across the water's surface. "You're supposed to ask a question," she said.

"What happened after your master took you away?" was he referring to five years ago? She didn't really know what he was asking. A lot of things happened that day…

"Um, I went to the dungeons."

"Why?"

"Not-uh-uh, one question at a time! Why are you staying here specifically in this town?"

"Because I know somebody here," he said, looking at her. She blushed and looked away. She changed the form of the lamb into a phoenix and made it fly over them. He seemed surprised at that and she was glad. "Why did you go back to the dungeons and what were you planning on doing?"

She slapped his arm. Cheater, "That's two questions!"

"I formulated it in one sentence, answer it."

She slapped his arm again and took the remaining grapes from him. "I went back to see if you were there," he smiled. "And if you were I was going to break you out. But… when I got there, the guard told me that you had escaped. I didn't know where you went and my father was in really bad shape so I went home." He was about to take the grapes from her but she quickly ate them and handed him the empty branches. "What are you trying to map out?"

"The area for tombs," he dug through her basket for some more fruit and took an apple. She made fire dance in her hands then raised her arms as the fire shot into the sky in different colors, it touched the water phoenix and caught it on fire. He took a bite out of the apple then handed it to her. Was he expecting her to eat that? She moved the apple back to him but he shoved it at her and she took it. "Do you like someone?"

 _Oh no, not that territory…_ "Um," she blushed and quickly glanced at him. He was watching the fire. Was the feeling she felt towards him love? She had been convincing herself that he was only a friend and that she only felt that way because he was male. She wasn't quite sure how to answer that. "I guess so? Do you like someone?"

"That answer isn't good enough. I need a name."

"What if I don't know the name?"

"Is it someone you don't know?" He asked. She bit the apple from the opposite side where he had ate and he took it back. No, she didn't really know any other male person besides him but she felt too embarrassed and awkward to answer his name. She needed to come out with a name and fast! Taymur—no! That was her ram's name.

"Um… Mahad!" she said a little too loudly. _Oh, Ra… that's the magician Master Zaim took me to meet._ It was the first name that came to her head besides Taymur.

"Mahad? Who's Mahad?" he didn't sound happy. He ate the apple and gave it back to her. He was taking large bites, leaving her little room to eat besides where he ate. Somehow her heart pounded when she thought of eating the same place on the apple as he did. Ugh, it was just an apple! "Who's Mahad?" he asked again. Well, was he expecting his name, the conceited jerk?

She shook her head. "Answer my question. Do you like someone?"

"Yes."

"I need a name."

"You can't have it. Eat the damn apple already," he said. She took a small bite and he snatched it from her.

"That answer isn't good enough," she mimicked.

"Hmm," he said and he looked at her. "It's a girl I met a while back. I can't say her name because I'd feel stupid if she said she didn't like me back and I don't want you going around and telling her." Meskhenet's heart ached. _He's just a friend…_ but that couldn't comfort her. He liked someone else, was it that girl from the marketplace? She shouldn't have asked. She regretted it. She didn't want to play the game anymore. He took a bite out of the apple and tried to give it to her but she didn't take it.

"That answer isn't good enough…" she said again, this time quietly.

"Well, I'm not giving it to you."

"Then no more tricks."

"I've seen enough to satisfy me."

She made the fire on the phoenix disappear until it was only a water phoenix once more. She then made the phoenix fly at Bakura and it splashed all over him. She picked up her basket of food and ran off. She hated herself for asking that stupid question. Worse part about it was that she wanted Bakura to run after her, but he didn't. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

When she got home, she stuck her nose in a book on kas and tried not to think of Bakura while she cried. She kept reading the same page over and over until she heard her father come home. She quickly prepared some fruit for him and felt bad. She had been so busy trying not to think of the stupid jerk that she forgot to make food for her father.

"Ah, Mes, I'm not that hungry," her father coughed as he came to sit at her study desk. "Are you still studying about kas? I think this is the same book from yesterday."

"Father, you need to eat. You have barely eaten, if you keep this up, I'm going back to shepherding the sheep," her father looked at her and sighed. He started to slowly eat the fruit. She wasn't going to leave until he ate the entire plate.

"Mes, were you crying?"

"No." she wiped her eyes a bit and sniffled.

"Oh, Mes," her father hugged her. There wasn't a point in lying; he always knew when she was lying. She didn't know how, but he did. Maybe it was the instincts of a father. She sniffled a bit. "What happened?"

"I—I was playing a stupid game. It was just a game, but I…" she couldn't help herself and she started to cry some more. What was wrong with her? No matter how many times she told herself that he was a friend, it just felt like it ached even more. Her father patted her back. "F—father, what does being in love feel like?"

Her father sat down and had her sit at his feet while she hiccupped. "Hmm… _true_ love is a very complicated feeling, but it exists. True love is when… it stops being about you and more about them. Happiness for you is their happiness, you feel safe and secure with them, it doesn't matter whether you touch or talk, their presence is what makes you happy and everything that they do, regardless of how infuriating," he chuckled. "Is what makes you love them even more."

She wiped her eyes with her sleeves. So what she felt, regardless of how she thought of it, it wasn't love. She didn't love him. So whatever pain that was hurting her heart would go away. He could like whatever dumb girl he liked. It didn't matter. He wasn't her soulmate. It somehow made her feel slightly happier knowing this feeling would end soon. She wondered what it was though that she was feeling.

"Mes, you are still young," he patted her head. Zaim would've disagreed with that statement. "You have plenty of time to find your soulmate." He was right. She had just turned fifteen some months ago, she still had time to marry, plenty of time…


	11. Chapter XI: The Gift

Chapter XI: The Gift

Her father left to go back to the capital so she began to take the sheep out to the Nile. She often ran into Bakura and although her heart ached at seeing him still, it was slightly good for her to know that he was not her soulmate. He didn't ask her about the other day and she was glad for that. She hoped he was still wondering who Mahad was since she hoped he'd never find out. She practiced her magic with the sheep and Bakura watched her in silence.

Suddenly he asked, "Why don't you wear shoes?"

She looked down at her feet. They were dirty and a bit rough from all the walking she had always done. Why was he concerned of this now? She never wore shoes not even when they were children. "I never have." She turned back to the sheep.

"Yes, but why?"

She turned to him and looked at his feet. He had a nice pair of flat shoes on his feet. "Because I'm poor, I can't afford shoes when I'm too busy trying to buy something to eat for my father and I. Most peasants are that way. Whatever money that isn't going towards the food is for other supplies such as clothing or kitchen utensils."

He was silent but he was still looking at her feet. She wondered if the girl he liked wore nice shoes like his. He got up and walked away without saying anything. He could've at least said something. _Ah, you're a fool_ ; she should start expecting the unexpected since he was unpredictable to her. She shook her head at her own foolishness.

When the sun set, she took the sheep home and went straight to bed as was what she did lately. When she awoke, it was still too early for her to take the sheep out so she went to her study and sat down at her desk. She popped a book open about tombs and she wondered why she was reading it but she did anyways. She leafed through the book and suddenly, someone threw something on her desk. She put her book down and looked up.

Bakura was standing over there, with one hand behind his neck. He looked a little embarrassed and she wondered why. She hadn't heard him come in though, he was getting rather good at sneaking up on her and she didn't like it.

"What are you doing here? It's not even morning," she said. He pointed at her desk and she looked at it. To her surprise, there was a pair of shoes on the table. "Oh!"

"They're for you," and he left. She wondered where he got them, did he stole them? Or maybe he asked the girl he liked to give it to him. She looked at the shoes and glared at them. If they were from that girl she didn't want to wear them. But she picked the shoes up anyways and looked them over. There were soft and felt rather warm. She looked at her feet and got up, placing the shoes on the floor.

She tentatively placed one foot in a shoe and wiggled her toes. They were rather comfy and warm, but it felt kind of restricting too but at least she wouldn't have to step on rocks and dirt. _What am I doing?_ She took the shoe off and placed them aside. She wanted to know where he got them first before she started wearing them. It was rather stupid, he wasn't her soulmate so why did it matter if it was from the girl he liked? She wasn't quite certain.

When she took her sheep out to the Nile the next morning, Bakura was there with his horse, looking at a piece of parchment. She wondered if that was the map he was making but she didn't dare ask him. She stupidly hoped he wouldn't notice her even though he was practically six feet away. The sheep bleated and Bakura looked at her. He instinctively looked at her feet.

"You're not wearing the shoes I got you," he said rather angrily.

"Oh… about that, what are they for?"

"They're for you, idiot," he said rather harshly, marching over to her. What? Did he just call her an idiot? She wanted to chuck something at him but she had nothing but her shepherd's crook. She could try whacking him with it…

"Wrong question," she said irritated. "Where did you get them?"

"I bought them."

"With what?" she laughed but he didn't find it funny. She instantly shut up and placed a hand over her mouth. "Oh… I am so sorry." She must've insulted him, she knew he didn't have money, he stole things and she just laughed at him for doing that. She felt bad and looked down. "I'm sorry."

He went back to his horse without saying anything and she was worried he was angry with her. He went out of his way to buy her shoes when he probably had better things to buy and she laughed at him for that. She went over to him as he was looking at his map. She tugged at the sleeve of his tunic but he ignored her. "I'm sorry," she said again but he still said nothing. She spent the rest of the day feeling horrible and he didn't speak to her.

When she got home, she went to her study and found the shoes. She threw them across the room and laid her head on her desk. She didn't want to see him tomorrow or any time soon. She didn't like the feeling of him ignoring her and she couldn't believe that she had laughed at him for being poor, for being a thief. _At least he doesn't let society force him into a position_. She wanted to die.

The next day, she wore the shoes and it felt odd but she took her sheep down to the Nile and to her relief and sadness, he wasn't there. She wondered if he was going to avoid her and she suddenly felt her heart ache. Was it worse seeing him and knowing he liked some other girl or was it worse not seeing him at all? He wasn't her soulmate but he was still a dear friend to her. She practiced her magic and watched the sheep lazily.

He went out of his way to get her shoes, what could she do to make it up to him…? That's it! She'd make him a gift! She couldn't afford much though… so what could she do? _I'll make him a book! People like books, right? I can add poems and stories in it!_ Yes, that was perfect! That night when she went back to town, she rushed off to see if she could afford some leather bounding. She avoided the baker's shop should she encounter him. Then she locked herself in the study and frantically looked for some paper and ink. She spent all night copying parts of books that she had that she thought he'd like, but most of her books were spell books so she would need to head to the library for some actual books.

Some days passed and she still hadn't seen Bakura, she went to the baker's shop to see if he was there but he wasn't so she headed to the goatherd's house and he still wasn't there. She gave up and went back to her house one night to finish making the book. She lit a candle and grabbed a blanket from her room, wrapping herself in it. She went over to her study and saw Bakura at her desk.

"Oh…"

He was looking at her desk that was filled with loose pages and ink with the leather bounding. He didn't seem interested in it at all. Oh, no, did he see what she was copying? She didn't want him looking at it until it was finished.

"The townspeople said they hadn't seen you at the marketplace in a while," he picked up a basket from the floor and gave it to her, it was filled with fruit. She wondered if he had stolen those then she remembered why he had been avoiding her and she felt horrible for thinking low of him again.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, shut up about that already," he said, getting up. He dragged her over to her chair and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her down into the chair. "I'm not some wounded animal that you stabbed with a knife."

"But I laughed at you…"

He looked rather annoyed by her, but she didn't know what else to say. He looked at her feet and seemed rather pleased that she was wearing the shoes. "No harm done," he patted her shoulder. "Now eat something before you die of starvation."

She picked up an apple. "Thank you…" he was being rather kind to her and frankly she didn't think she deserved it. He probably had better things to do then take care of her and get her gifts. "Thank you."

"You keep repeating yourself," he touched her forehead and she blushed at his warm skin.

"You've been kind to me."

He looked at her surprised and removed his hand from her head. He seemed to be in deep thought. He sat down next to her, crossing his legs and taking some fruit from the basket. "I don't think I've been kind to you."

"Really?" she chuckled, spinning the apple between her hands. "You bought me shoes and you've given me food. I'm sure you have more important things to do then spend time with me. You could be talking to the girl you like, but you're always here."

"The girl I like is an idiot," he said flatly. She was rather surprised at that. He was pretty lenient on throwing out insults. "I do have better things to do, but you're my friend and I've only ever done what you have done for me." She didn't think that was true. She didn't know if she actually did anything for him. Sure, he stole from her here and there and she didn't complain to him about it, but she hadn't given him anything from as far as she could remember. "Shut up and eat." She hadn't said anything but she ate anyways.

He didn't stay long and left through the window. She was kind of grateful for that window. She went back to work on the book. The next morning, she took her sheep out to the Nile and Bakura was sitting on the ground, looking at his map. She peeked over his shoulder and he looked up at her. His map was rather hard to read, there were no words but she recognized the Nile and the capital.

"Wouldn't it be a lot easier if you put the names of the towns?" she asked, trying to find Mallawi on it. He didn't answer her. "Is your greatest goal to steal from every tomb in Egypt?"

"No," he said. He rolled up his map and tapped her shoulder with it. "I am the Thief Lord; I don't need to steal from every tomb in Egypt. People will know my name and cower in fear." He laughed but she didn't like the title 'Thief Lord', it reminded her of Zaabit and his stupid fake smile. She shuddered.

"Don't call yourself that," she said as he looked at her. "Zaabit called himself that…"

"Zaabit?" he asked. She nodded. "Zaabit isn't here anymore." She looked at him in surprise. What was that supposed to mean? "He died sometime back."

She didn't like how he said 'died'; it reminded her of how Zaabit talked about his dad. "Did you kill him?" Bakura didn't answer. She pursed her lips. "Did you kill him?"

"Yes."

"W—why?" she knew Zaabit was a bad man, he had tried killing them and he had stolen from them but to kill him didn't make any sense to her. She didn't really want to believe Bakura was capable of murder.

He didn't answer her though. "What do you think of me?" she wasn't quite sure what she thought of him. He just admitted to killing someone. "A lowly thief, scum, trash to the world? A boy who should've died with his village?" Was that how he saw himself? _Well, isn't he just a positive ray of sunshine._

She shook her head. "I don't know…"

He grabbed her wrist and forced her to turn towards him. "Well, I need an answer!"

Putting aside her odd feelings and the thought that he killed Zaabit, she took a deep breath. "I think you're lonely." His grip loosened a bit, but he still held onto her. "I think you're kind when you want to be. I think you do things because the world made you that way. You're not scum because people say you are, people don't know anything and they're scum for judging you. I'm happy that you're alive." He let go of her and she rubbed her wrist, it kind of throbbed from his grip. He stared at her.

"You said I was kind," he looked up at the sky. "But you've been nothing but kind to me."

She was kind of happy that he saw her that way. She turned to look at her sheep, quite aware of her heart beating wildly in her chest. They sat there in silence as the day went on.

The days passed and Zaim began teaching her illusion magic. He said it was the most difficult because it was playing with people's minds and visions. He gave her a whole three volumes on it and told her to read them. She divided her free time between reading the books and finishing the book she wanted to give to Bakura.

The next morning came and at last! The book was complete! She tiredly closed it and picked it up, heading to her window to find Bakura, but Zaim opened the study door. She turned around.

"What are you doing?" he asked confused but she merely laughed. "Oh, Ra, Meskhenet, you look terrible!" It was true, she hadn't slept in a few nights but that was alright, the book was finished and she finished two volumes of illusion magic. "When I told you to read the books, I didn't want you to stress over them."

"Oh, no, it was no problem. They were interesting," she didn't bother explaining that his books weren't the reason for her lack of sleep. He looked worried.

"Get some rest; we'll continue your training tomorrow. Your father should be coming home soon," he left and she sighed. She hadn't seen her father much but when he came back she was going to have the doctor visit him.

"You look excited," came Bakura's voice from her window, she turned around and used the book to cover half her face. "You look tired." He jumped in. She handed him the book and he took it.

"What is this for?" Bakura asked, flipping the book around and looking at the spine. He was sat down, crossed legged on the floor of the study. The book was leather bound, brown and rather thick. Meskhenet was proud of her work; she had successfully copied two hundred poems, twenty five short stories, and excerpts about the tombs of the Valley of the Kings. It had taken her a long time and frequent visits to the library and all-nighters just to be able to copy those. She could've been creative enough to write her own poems but found it too difficult and in the end decided they would sound nicer and be less embarrassing if she didn't write it.

"It's a book," she said, putting her hands behind her and rocking on her heels, "For you."

"You got me a book?" he sounded rather surprised. He placed it on the floor and she stopped rocking, frowning. He could've at least looked at it. Was he not happy with it?

"No, I made it," she said. He looked at it and frowned.

"Why a book, though?" he asked, "Because you like books?"

She bent down and snatched the book from the floor. Fine, if he didn't like it then she'd just give it to someone who'd appreciate it! "Well, I wanted to give you something since you gave me shoes, but I guess you don't need it so you don't want it. I'll keep in mind to get you something much useful," she said haughtily. She was offended and hurt. It took her a long time to make the book and she tried to put as much love into it as possible. The leather covers were expensive too! Frankly, paper and ink were one of the few things she could afford.

For the rest of the day, she refused to talk to him and even avoided him for the next two days. One day, she was sitting at her desk, looking at scrolls about kas of the people of the older times. Bakura jumped through her window and walked over to her. She pretended not to notice him. The book that she had gave to him sat atop two other books. He picked it up and flipped through it real slow then put it back down. She still pretended not to notice him. He looked at her and was silent.

"Are you still mad at me?" she didn't reply. "Come on, Khenet, it's just a book…"

"That I gave you!" she snapped, slamming her hand on the table. "You know, I'm sorry you can't sell it or buy anything with it like your gold! I just thought I could give you something nice and simple! You could have just took it and let it collect dust back at your place, Ammit, I wouldn't know! I just thought it would have just mattered that it was from me…" she stood up and pointed at the book. Bakura looked at it and frowned. He looked disappointed and sighed.

"I wish I could like it," he said. She sat back down and began scribbling on some paper. She wasn't going to exchange any words with him. She felt like crying, why couldn't he have just been grateful she _made_ him something? Did people give him gifts often? She didn't think so. She shoved the paper to him and he took it. He looked at it.

"What are you doing?"

"Read it," she said angrily. He quickly glanced at the paper then placed it down without reading it. The nerve he had!

"I can't read."

She looked at him in surprise and he moved away from her, dropping down under the window and crossing his legs. She turned to him in disbelief and suddenly felt guilty. She had completely forgotten that most people couldn't read, she herself wasn't supposed to know how to read either but because she was training under Zaim as a magician, he had taught her how to read. Bakura was from a low part of the hierarchy, of course he couldn't read. She wanted to slap herself for assuming that he could.

"I'm sorry," she said. He just looked away. He looked a bit upset. "I—I didn't know… I mean… I forgot." She got up and sat down next to him. She wasn't sure how she could make up for it; she seemed to always insult him in some way. Ra, she was horrible. "I'll make you something else."

He looked at her and placed his hand on her head. She blushed and grabbed his hand, removing it from her head but she didn't let go. "Teach me."

"What?"

"How to read," he jabbed a finger at her chest. "You can read so you should be able to teach someone how to read, yes?" He didn't ask much from her so she was quite glad that he had asked her something but she wasn't sure how to go about teaching him to read. She could start by teaching him how to write his name—no, wait, the number system or she should probably just stick with the alphabet.

She gave him a scroll of the alphabet and pointed at the various symbols and sounds they were supposed to make. She then wrote his name on a piece of paper and told him to copy it. She first had to teach him how to hold the reed pen properly. She spent the whole day, teaching him as best she could and by the time it was night, he was still there, reading over simple (and rather stupid) phrases she had written mostly about falcons and crocodiles. She was at her desk, looking for her old papers that Zaim had made her read when she was a child. The door to the study flew open and Zaim walked in, dropping a basket of apples at her table. He looked at Bakura who was slouching on the ground, holding a scroll.

"What's he doing here?!" Zaim asked angrily, turning to Meskhenet who dropped her head on the table. Zaim saw the book she had made and grabbed it. She tried to take it from him but he moved away and opened it. _Ra, I shouldn't have written Bakura's name in it…_ Zaim glared at the first page that had Bakura's name written on it. He turned angrily to Meskhenet. "What is this?"

"I—" she really hated answering him. It didn't seem to do any favors for her, just make him angrier.

"She's teaching me how to read," Bakura said. Zaim turned to him, fuming. He had the look like 'how dare you speak to me'. Meskhenet needed to step in before one of them killed the other. She got up and snatched the book from Zaim, trying to block his view of Bakura who didn't even bother to get up to greet Zaim. She was just too short.

She laughed nervously. "It's nothing, Master, I'm just doing him a favor."

"Oh, so if he started asking for other favors, you'd do them too?" She looked up at him in shock. She couldn't believe he said that! And in front of Bakura too! Her face flushed as she tried to come up with an answer. Bakura looked up from the scroll.

"What is he talking about?" he asked. Meskhenet turned to him, waving her hands around.

"Nothing!" She turned to Zaim. _What in Ra's name was he trying to do?!_ "Thank you kindly for the apples! But I think you should go!" She started to push Zaim out but he was so tall, he was like a pillar. He didn't budge but angrily glared at Bakura who returned the favor. Oh, she wished her father was here. Zaim angrily left and Meskhenet closed the door, dropping into her chair and slamming her head on the desk.

"Don't do that," Bakura said. Oh, he wasn't making anything better. She groaned and stopped. She hoped he wasn't going to ask about the 'favors' Zaim was talking about, but Bakura didn't and she was quite glad. She eventually fell asleep at her desk and she awoke in the middle of the night. Bakura was asleep on her floor and she suddenly felt embarrassed and shy despite no one being there. She still had those odd feelings towards him, she still thought his touch was warm and he still sent her heart pounding but it wasn't as bad as before. Maybe one day the feelings would disappear altogether.

Her heart still ached whenever she thought of him and another girl. The girl was lucky, she thought, despite being an idiot. She went over to her room and picked up a blanket and went back to the study. She threw the blanket over him and went back to her desk. She sighed. Her heart was aching real badly, why? He wasn't her soulmate. She laughed at herself. It didn't matter how many times she told herself that, she had some feelings for him and that was that.

* * *

I almost uploaded the wrong chapter :P, but here's 11~


	12. Chapter XII: The Ka

Chapter XII: The Ka

She didn't see Bakura for a few weeks, but that was fine by her. The pain in her heart was slowly going away and despite knowing Bakura wasn't who she was destined to be with, she couldn't help but still blush and stare at the jerk. It was simply because he was male not that she had feelings for him, which was her conclusion. If she knew more men, she would've been used to them and therefore unaffected by whatever charm she thought Bakura had.

She spent most of her time practicing magic and shepherding sheep. Bakura accompanied her here and there whenever he was around, but they didn't talk that much. He just took to watching her practice magic and occasionally would ask if she was alright. Zaim had taken to accompanying her too and eventually Bakura stopped coming, but still dropped by at her house in the morning or night.

She was making the water dance around the sheep while Zaim was watching. The sheep went on uncaring. Zaim was sitting crosslegged, arms crossed as well as he stared at her magic, but then got up and approached her. "Have you been practicing summoning your ka?"

She turned to him. No matter how hard she tried to read and study about kas, she couldn't bring herself to summon her own. "I've tried a couple of times, but I don't know how…"

"Stop trying so hard to summon it and just summon it," he said. That was the worse advice she had ever heard! Why couldn't someone actual tell her how it's done? He sighed. "Look, it's like… breathing. If you think about breathing, you suddenly forget how to breathe. Summoning your ka is the same."

"So… I should stop thinking about summoning my ka in order to summon my ka?" the advice was confusing, but she guessed it was like magic. Every time she concentrated so hard on magic, it stopped working the minute she got excited so she had to act like magic was natural in order to perform it better. Zaim had told her that magic had to become a part of her everyday life that she forgot it was even separate. That advice hadn't worked for her ka though but she supposed it was because she was trying too hard.

"Yes—something like that," he looked at her and frowned. She wondered what was on his mind. "You and that stupid thief…"

"Bakura," she corrected.

"The thief," he insisted. "You've been hanging around a lot and he comes often when your father isn't home."

"Yes?" where was he going with this? Bakura actually did come when her father was home just never entered the house when her father was literally in the house. He shook his head.

"Never mind, that's enough training for today." He walked off and Meskhenet was rather confused, but she shrugged it off and went to watching her sheep and practicing more of her magic. When the day was over, she took them home and went to her study with a cup of water. To her complete and utter surprise, Bakura was sitting at her desk, leaning back in the chair.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking out the window while she closed the door gently behind her. "It's rather late." She didn't really like telling him that since he slept on the top of the baker's shop, but a part of her didn't really care since she figured he could just confess to whatever girl he was in love with and maybe sleep with her.

She picked up a book from the nearest shelf to the door and retreated over to the space under the window, sitting down. She took a sip of her water, placing the cup down in front of her and cracking open the book. Bakura looked at her but he seemed deep in thought. She looked at his hair, it was getting rather long. She should tell him to cut it, but she didn't really want to deal with him right now. She wanted him out. He kept staring at her and it made her heart beat loudly. She took another sip of her water and turned to her book, trying to block out his presence.

"Your master came to me today," he said, but she was still trying to block him out so she didn't respond. It wasn't working really well. "Khenet?" She wished he didn't call her that.

"Hmm?"

"Does your master ask weird things of you?"

"No?" she didn't know what he meant. Zaim was usually pestering her about her ka or magic or about her hanging out with Bakura. Wait! She looked up. Did Bakura just say that Zaim spoke to him? And Bakura was here… did that mean Zaim was dead somewhere? "Where's Master Zaim?"

"He went back home," Bakura didn't seem like he was lying, he still seemed rather distracted. She gave a sigh of relief. Oh good, they didn't kill each other. She took to drinking her cup of water. "He asked me if we were having sex."

She spat the water out and started to cough. _What in Ammit's name?!_ He hadn't asked her that. She couldn't believe it, why would Zaim go and ask Bakura that and not her? Did he think she would lie? He just embarrassed her a million times over and now she felt like she wanted to die. Her face was probably all red. Bakura was still looking at her distractedly. Now she was never going to look at Bakura the same way—wait, maybe Bakura didn't know what that was then she wouldn't need to feel that embarrassed.

"A—and what did you answer?" she asked hesitantly.

"I answered no," _well, Ra,_ he probably did know what that was. Ammit, why couldn't being a thief make you half as stupid as the rest of the world?! She looked down at the mess she had made. She was so embarrassed, why did Bakura have to tell her what he and Zaim talked about? Why couldn't he just run to his stupid girl and tell her?! She wanted to die so badly right now. "Well, it isn't like we are having sex so there isn't anything to be ashamed of." She guessed he had a point. She looked at him and frowned. Still, it was embarrassing, how was he not affected? Shouldn't he at least be offended? He liked some other girl and she was just a friend. A smile crept onto his lips and she feared what he was about to say, "Unless you want to have sex with me."

She threw her book at him and he laughed at her as he easily deflected it across the room. "No. I'm saving myself for my soulmate and I suggest you do the same unless I start calling you a horse."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You mean a whore?"

She flushed at her mix up of words. "Yes, that."

"What I want to know is why is your master asking _me_ that and not you? And where in Ra's name did he even get that idea?"

She wished she had an answer to the first question because she wanted to know that to. She realized that Zaim was quite perceptive and he probably had noticed her weird behavior around Bakura. She looked down. Should she admit to Bakura about her feelings? Well, they weren't really feelings, just some sort of… stirrings, yes that probably was it. He liked some other girl so it would be really awkward if she told him that.

He was still looking at her, expecting an answer. She sighed. "I don't know why he asked you that… probably to embarrass me or makes things really awkward between us that we stop hanging out." Bakura frowned. "As for the second part… I'm not really accustomed to being around men my age…"

"What's your point? You're with me."

"Yes… that's the thing. You're technically the only man I hang around with and I have these weird… feelings towards you, but it's not love. I just don't know what it is… I don't want things to be awkward between us. We're friends and you have some other girl you like. I'm just being stupid."

"You mean when you become red and all embarrassed around me?"

"Yes…" oh, so he noticed how she acted, that was embarrassing. "But… these feelings are slowly going away." Maybe she was being creepy and maybe he didn't want to hang out with her, why would he? He had the other girl he liked and she had just told him about her stirrings.

"I'm flattered you find me attractive," of course that would be his response. "But as you know, I like someone else."

"Yes, I know…"

"So we have boundaries that cannot be crossed."

"Yes. If our friendship is to live we must establish boundaries."

"Whatever I do, I'm only torturing you for my amusement." He said. She already knew that. He smirked at her.

"Yes and my embarrassment and weird behavior will disappear. They are not true feelings."

"So it's decided."

"We're just friends," they mutually agreed and he left while she went to clean her mess. She sighed with somewhat relief. Maybe confessing her stirrings to him was the right thing to do. She somehow felt a weight lifted from her.

Whenever she saw him from then on out, things were less awkward. She didn't think of him as much as she used to and didn't become embarrass as often when he touched her. She was slowly getting over her stirrings! But she still enjoyed his company. It somehow always felt better when he was near.

Zaim, on the other hand, was less responsive to her. She tried to talk with him about his conversation with Bakura, but he kept dodging it. When she realized she was getting nowhere, she stopped.

Soon, the first month of _Shemu_ was upon them and Meskhenet had improved immensely in her magic, in fact, Zaim was going to take her to get a staff soon! She was so excited. Her father was home more frequently until one day; he stopped going to the palace all together. She did have the doctor visit but the doctor said he wasn't quite sure what was wrong but told her father should try to rest and eat as much as possible.

Zaim was on his horse as the horse walked over to Meskhenet who was ready to take the sheep out. "Oh, Master Zaim, are you riding out somewhere?"

"I'm heading over to the palace," he said. He looked a little worried. "Your father won't tell me why he hasn't reported to the Queen."

"So you're going there to find out why," Meskhenet said. Her father had been very quiet about the palace affairs. Whenever Meskhenet asked, he quickly changed the subject. He had brought home the Akhet Dagger and his Diadhank which worried Meskhenet; those were the items he used at work. Why had he brought them home?

"I'll see you in a few days, keep practicing your magic and try summoning your ka," and he rode off. Meskhenet called to her sheep as they came waltzing out the fence. She led them to the Nile and was joined by Bakura on his black steed. They walked alongside each other and when they reached the Nile, Meskhenet let the sheep go to graze. Bakura dismounted his horse and sat down on the soil and she did as well.

"How is your father?" Bakura asked. She looked at him, she was happy that he was interested in her family's wellbeing. She smiled at him.

"He's eating more than he did before but he keeps insisting he's alright. He still has this constant cough, the doctor says he doesn't know what's wrong," she replied. "I don't know why he hasn't gone to work. My master went to find out."

"Your father is strong," Bakura said as he patted her head. She didn't like when he did that, it kind of made her feel like a child.

"Thank you," she said. "I want to try summoning my ka, but I haven't been able to do so. Master Zaim said that my _heka_ is strong so I don't know what the problem is." Bakura just listened to her. She sighed and thought about all the books she read about kas. How was she to summon hers? She heard something hiss and she looked around, gripping her shepherd's crook.

"What's the matter?" Bakura asked, though he seemed amused.

"Did you hear something?"

"No."

She looked at him, he was smiling. What was so amusing? She looked around once more. Nothing in the soil, the little grass moved slightly and she stared at it alerted, her hand gripping the crook harder. And then she saw something white slither up to her feet. She screamed and kicked at it, but the snake quickly slithered away. It was pure white with light purple eyes. Bakura quickly got up and the snake slithered up him until it was safely around his neck.

"What's your problem? Are you trying to kill me?" he said angrily. She was staring at him in disbelief. What was _his_ deal?! She got up, ready to burn the little beast to ashes, but Bakura put a hand protectively over the snake who hissed at her.

"What's _your_ problem?! Why is there a snake here? I hate snakes!" she made a flame appear in her hand and Bakura quickly grabbed her wrist and moved it down.

"That's my ka!"

"What?" she said, making the flame disappear. She looked at the scaly creature and it hissed. She shivered, yanking her hand away from Bakura. She stepped back. "A snake, why does it have to be a snake?"

"I didn't choose the shape," he raised his arm out and the snake spiraled around his arm and reached over to her, but she leaned back. "You don't remember him?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The white snake."

She raised an eyebrow at him then looked at the white snake. She vaguely remembered that when he was a child he mentioned about seeing a white snake in his dreams and back then she had told him that white meant purity so the snake was good, but ever since Apep, she hadn't been able to look at snakes the same way. She shivered and moved further away from him. "Yes, I remember you mentioning it..."

"I was afraid of the white snake when I was a child but in reality, it was my ka the whole time," he placed the snake down on the ground and the snake slithered over to Meskhenet who kicked dirt at it and the snake slithered back to Bakura. "Stop that!"

She didn't care if she kicked his ka; he should have told her before giving her a scare! She realized that he was a regular person, not studying magic but he had a ka and not her. His ka was rather small though but still she didn't even have a form. She felt like a failure and sighed. She sat down and hugged her knees. "I've been outdone by a thief."

"Well, come on, let's see your ka," Bakura said and the snake slithered near her but kept a safe distance away, swaying its upper body as if expecting her to do something. She felt miserable. The snake swayed side to side, flicking its disgusting tongue in and out of its mouth. She glared at the white serpent. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, concentrating. She felt something lift from within her and when she looked to the side, she saw a shadowy figure floating near her, but it took every ounce of strength to keep the shape there, but when she could keep it no longer, she gasped and collapsed on the floor. Bakura rushed over to her and she got up, placing a hand to her chest.

She had used up too much magic. She tried to get up but nearly fell until Bakura caught her. He sat her down. "Are you alright?" he looked worried. She was breathing hard. She nodded but felt weak, fatigue and dehydrated. The snake slithered near her and placed its head on her lap. She was too weak to move the snake. Taymur came over and stared at the ka who stared back. Taymur nudged her and she weakly petted his head, he then went over to the ewes.

Bakura sat right next to her. "Let's… not try that again," she weakly laughed, but pretty soon she fell asleep. When she woke up, she was leaning her head on Bakura's shoulder and his ka was curled up on her lap. She quickly moved away from him and Bakura looked at her. She gazed up at the sky. It was beginning to turn orange, "S—sorry."

"Are you alright?" he asked again. She nodded and his ka got up. She shooed it away hesitantly and it slithered off her much to her relief.

"He likes you," Bakura said as his snake came over to him. He was acting like his ka was a different being; technically it was a portion of his soul.

"What's his name?" she asked. She knew every ka one had. Her father's was the Time Wizard and Zaim's was Volcanic Wings.

Bakura petted his ka. "Diabound," he said and she laughed. She thought the name sounded very nice and she went over to Diabound, petting its head, it seemed to enjoy her touch. She forced a smile, Diabound didn't seem too bad.

"Nice to meet you, Diabound," she said. The snake slithered up her arm and around her neck. It was a deep contrast to Bakura's warmth, it was cold and scaly but it seemed innocent. "How did you learn to summon your ka?"

Bakura looked at her. "I'm not certain. It was here the whole time," he pointed to his chest and she frowned. "I remember feeling angry, sad and hurt when I was young, that's when Diabound first came to me." She was merely staring at him. "Try focusing your emotions into summoning your ka."

"What emotion did you focus on?" she asked.

He thought for a moment. "Hatred," he replied. Hatred? She bit her lip, who did she hate? Zaabit, Apep… the old Master Zaim, but none of her hatred was that strong. His hatred must have been from the raiders of his village, but even though her home was attacked by raiders, she only felt deep sadness.

"I don't know if I hate anyone so strongly," she said.

"Then try something else," he was staring at her, "Love."

She looked up at him. "Love?"

He nodded. "I think your love is probably stronger than your hate so trying focusing on your love." She guessed that was better advice than Zaim's or any of the books. _Alright, I'll try that…_

When she went home that night, she slipped on her plain brown night gown and went over to her makeshift bed of sheets and crawled in. She thought of what Bakura said. Her love was stronger than her hate and she thought about it for a long while. Maybe he was right, she loved her mother and she loved Nakia, Maat, Issar, Zaim (to some degree), the sheep and her father. Yes, she loved her father very much. To her, her father was the pharaoh; he was the most amazing man she had ever known. He was kind and loving and he always knew what was wrong. He sacrificed many things for her and other people. _He's my pharaoh._

And then there was Bakura, yes, she loved Bakura too. Maybe not as romantically as she had once thought, but he made her feel happy when he was near. She loved when he laughed and when he was in a good mood. She didn't like to see him lonely and she liked to hear his voice. _Bakura and Father, the two most important men in my life…_ and she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I'm actually aware that Ancient Egyptians didn't drink water as it was not sanitized, but this is fiction :P, I don't want to write everyone's drinking beer and wine. Also, I don't think I mentioned this before, but the use of the word 'Ammit' is supposed to be like hell or damn in this story. FYI, Ammit is the beast that eats the souls of the wicked who don't pass the scales of judgment~


	13. Chapter XIII: The Father

Chapter XIII: The Father

Bakura left to go somewhere and said he wouldn't be back for some days. She didn't ask where, assuming it was some tomb. Meskhenet took to accompanying her father to the Nile with their sheep. He walked slowly, treading in the soil, coughing here and there but insisted he was fine. Taymur walked beside her father, the ram seemed to like him a lot but then again, her father took care of Taymur since the ram was a baby. Her father petted Taymur who bleated.

"So how is your friend? What was his name again?" her father coughed, using his staff to support himself as he walked. The bumbling, hungry sheep bumped and shoved Meskhenet who clicked her tongue, shooing the little monsters back.

"Bakura," she said sheepishly. She always felt rather odd talking about Bakura with her father, probably because she knew Zaim bad mouthed Bakura to him. She wasn't entirely sure what her father thought of Bakura, he never actually met him or spoke about him. "He's alright. He left to go somewhere; said he would be back."

"And what of your feelings for him?"

She laughed. "I don't have feelings for him." She frowned. "At least not anymore, we're just friends."

"Really?" her father asked, coughing. She thought about it. He didn't intrude in her thoughts as much anymore though she still thought about him. When he touched her, it still felt warm and nice but it never sent her heart pounding in her chest. She just knew that it was nice being with him.

"Yes, I am positive."

"Hmm…" her father said. She looked at him. She wondered what was on his mind and why was he asking of Bakura? They usually talked of other things, but maybe he was trying to initiate a conversation so that she wouldn't ask about his job. Zaim still wasn't back yet and that was a little worrisome. When they reached the Nile, her father sat down at the edge of the waters and Taymur sat next to him while the ewes went out, hurriedly to graze and drink their fill. Taymur grazed on some grass next to her father while her father stroked Taymur's wool. "How is your ka training?"

"Oh, not good…"

"Can you still not summon it?"

She shook her head. "I tried summoning it some days ago but… I collapsed." She had been trying to focus as much on the people she loved, but she was a little afraid of summoning her ka again. She didn't want to collapse when her father was here. He didn't need the worry.

"Hmm," her father looked at her, stroking his beard. "The greatest people are always late bloomers. Now, why don't you entertain this old man with some magic?" He flashed a smile at her. She did the phoenix trick, caught the water on fire, and made the leaves and flowers dance. She turned her crook into rope and then created wine from water and back again. Her father was really amused.

She stood in the water, splashing and kicking at the clear liquid while the sheep minded their business a good distance away. Suddenly she felt something tap on her shoulder. She turned around, surprised but saw no one then something tapped her other shoulder. She turned and saw the red wheel of her father's ka.

"Oh!" she said. The Time Wizard danced in the air, waving its wand as its cape blew in the wind. She laughed as her father chuckled. "Why, it has been too long, my dear Wizard," she bowed and the Time Wizard twirled. The Time Wizard flew in a circle around Meskhenet, the soil and grass around her grew and sprouted into flowers of white and blue. Her favorite flowers, the blue lotuses! She gasped in surprise and the Time Wizard plucked one blue flower out and gave it to her. "For me?" he closed its eyes and nodded. She took the flower and placed it in her hair. "Why, thank you!"

She looked to her father who was chuckling. She went over to him, her skirt of her dress drenched in water as she sloshed in it. She wrung the water out before she sat down next to him. The Time Wizard floated after her and sat on top of Taymur, but the ram didn't like that and got up, sending the Time Wizard tumbling through the air. Meskhenet laughed.

"Father, you shouldn't be carelessly summoning your ka," she said as she grabbed the Time Wizard's cape to stop him from spinning. Her father coughed.

"I'm not being careless at all. You see," he leaned in close to her. "There's a very powerful magician here that I know will protect me." She laughed since she knew he was referring to her. Her father hadn't summoned his ka in a long time and she wondered why he had done so now, probably to cheer her up. She hugged her father who patted her back. "You know, I want to meet your friend. I've wanted to meet him for a while but I never had the chance to ask you. He never comes by when I'm at home."

She was surprised and a little worried. Bakura wasn't exactly an ideal man to meet… he could be rude, disrespectful and foul mouthed and there was the fact that he was a thief too. She didn't think her father would do anything to Bakura (not like Zaim) and she wasn't worried that Bakura would do anything to her father but she was worried that Bakura would leave a bad impression with him and he may ask her to stop hanging out with Bakura. It was easy for her to ignore Zaim's warnings since he didn't even give Bakura a chance and she wasn't entirely fond of Zaim but she didn't want to have to choose between being with Bakura and obeying her father.

"You can tell him I won't bite, this old goat lost all his teeth years ago," her father joked. She gave him a nervous smile. "Do you not want him to meet me?"

"No… I just think that…"

"He has bad manners?" her father waved that off. "When I was young, I thought I was the world. I thought all the girls worshipped me." She laughed. "If he has a few dirty words and some rude comments, I will understand. He's still young." She was glad that he hadn't said 'because he's a thief'. She shouldn't have doubted her father.

"I'll let him know when he comes back," she said and her father nodded.

Bakura came back some days later. Meskhenet was at her study, reading a book at her desk. He came through the window, and though she heard him, she didn't bother to turn to him, not that she didn't care but because she was too engrossed in her book to look away. She felt something brush against her skin and something gently touch her hair. Not expecting this, she jumped when his hands touched her shoulders; she turned to him and saw that he had placed a white veil over her head. She removed the veil, "Oh, Ra! You gave me a start!" she said, placing a hand on her chest. She looked at the veil. "What is this for?"

"You can have it," he said. "I came upon it on my travels."

"Your spoils of war?" she laughed, but he merely looked at her.

"Khenet…"

"Yes?" she asked and he shook his head, his light hair swaying with the motion. She looked at his hair. It had gotten quite long, she remembered when he was a child he wore it short. He needed to cut it. "Hold on," she took off to her room, putting the veil with her neatly folded clothing and digging through her belongings. She grabbed a knife and ran back to the study, closing the door softly behind her. She gestured to the chair. "Come here."

He hesitated but walked over to her and she pushed him to sit down. He saw the knife in her hand and got up. "What's that for?"

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to cut your hair," she responded with a laugh. He moved away from her and she grabbed his arm. "Wait!"

"So you're not even going to ask me?" he said, pulling away from her. She grabbed his tunic and tried pulling him back, but he was stronger than her therefore ended up pulling her towards the window.

"Your hair needs to be cut!"

"Cut your own hair!" he said. She didn't think her hair needed to be cut. Well, she looked at it, it was at her waist now, maybe it did need to be cut but she decided to worry about that later.

"Stop acting like a child! You look better when your hair is shorter! Look at it, it's nearly at your elbows!" he stopped and looked at her. She didn't know which of those words stopped him but he didn't resist anymore and she was able to drag him over to the chair and he sat down. He wasn't struggling, she smiled, _Good_.

She started to cut his hair while he drummed his fingers on her desk. "I started to read your book."

"What book?" she asked absentmindedly, slashing off a chunk of his locks, watching it float down to the floor. She grabbed a handful of more light gray locks, feeling his hair. _It's nice…_ Most of what he was saying was passing through her mind.

"The one you gave me," he growled.

"Oh, do you like it?"

"It's interesting but I don't understand the poem selection you picked out."

"Hmm?"

"They were mostly about love and flowers or something like that. Are you done?"

"No."

"Well, why are those poems so similar in theme?"

"Because most people write poems about love, it's supposed to be romantic. You can probably woo the girl you like if you gave her a poem; girls like poems and some romantic men do too. Were you trying to tell me something earlier?"

"No… do you like poems?"

"I like reading in general. I don't really care if it's a spellbook or an ancient text, poems and letters are nice too. There! I'm done!" she moved away from him and he touched the back of his hair, she cut it to just pass his neck, in a bit similar fashion to how she remembered he wore it as a child. He got up and looked at his fallen hair on the floor. She was looking up at him expectantly to thank her but he was just looking at her.

"I get to cut your hair now," he said, trying to take the knife from her. She moved away and laughed.

"No, you don't." she tried to run pass him but he grabbed her waist and she laughed even more. He placed her in the chair and took the knife. "Stop! My hair's fine."

"I won't cut it too short," he said evilly. She chortled and tried to get up, but he placed one hand on her shoulder and sat her back down. He grabbed the locks of her hair and she wasn't sure what he was doing but she didn't feel him cut it for some time. She realized she needed to tell him about her father. She turned her head but he moved her head to look straight. "Stop moving."

"My father wants to meet you," she said.

"Why?"

"He said he wanted to meet you for a while. He said he won't bite," she said, snickering. Bakura didn't reply. "My father isn't like Master Zaim. He won't judge you."

"Does he know I'm a thief?"

"Yes, I've already told him about you when we were young. There isn't much my father doesn't know." Honestly, she told her father almost everything and when she didn't he somehow knew. Perhaps from Zaim, maybe the town was spies for Zaim and Zaim was the eyes of her father. Bakura handed her the knife and she got up. Her hair didn't feel that much different, she moved all her hair to the left side of her shoulder and saw that Bakura hadn't cut it even. She chuckled and cut the rest of it off so that it was even now and reaching her elbows. "Well?"

He was staring at her. He seemed to be spacing out. She waved her hand in front of him. He blinked, focusing on her "'Well' what?"

"Are you going to meet him?"

"Hmm…" he thought for a moment. "I suppose I have time..."

"Good, I didn't want to take away your time from your conquering. I'll let him know when he comes back," she said, placing her hands behind her and rocking on her heels. She needed to clean the study's floor from the red and white strands of hair. "I need to clean so excuse me," he didn't move, he was still looking at her. "Is there something you want? Are you hungry?"

He shook his head and left through the door much to her surprise. She followed him out, but he exited her house. She wondered why he hadn't gone through the window like he always did. He was acting rather odd. She decided she would ask him later for now she needed to clean her study.

The next day, Bakura met her outside of her fence. She had just finished filling the trough with water. "Morning," she said, but he didn't reply. "My father's inside the house." He nodded but didn't move. She waved her hand in front of him but that seemed to annoy him. "You seem distracted."

"I have a lot on my mind."

"How is Diabound?" she asked, trying to get his attention. He didn't respond. She was getting rather worried. He was quiet lately, did something happen on his trip? "Um, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Really?" she wondered if this had something to do with the girl he liked. Did she confess to him? She gasped and he looked at her oddly. She touched his arm and he looked at her hand before stepping back. "Did you confess your feelings?"

"What?" he seemed rather surprise and a little irritated.

"To the girl you like," she replied.

"No," he spoke and looked away.

"How long has it been?" she placed her hands on her hips. It had been quite a while since they had played that game. He still hadn't confessed? Maybe his inner love for the girl was eating him up inside? He needed to confess. "I'll help you."

"With what?" he looked at her.

"Help you confess your love to the girl of your dreams."

"No."

"You need to let her know!" she tapped her foot on the ground. If he wasn't going to take his chance, the girl was probably going to get married off or wooed by some other man. "You can meet my father and then we'll go into town and find the girl of your dreams." He didn't say anything but he looked a bit conflicted. "Speaking of my father…" she peered over him and saw her father approach with his staff in his robes of white.

Bakura turned around quickly and her father coughed. "Hello, Baklava," her father smiled.

She chuckled, "Bakura."

"Oh," her father looked surprised. "I apologize, Bakura, this old goat's brain is a little jumbled." He laughed. Bakura didn't say anything. He could have at least greeted her father. He just stood there awkwardly. Her father cleared his throat. "I have meant to thank you for bringing Mes home to me but I am afraid I'm five years too late." Oh, she hadn't known that her father was grateful to Bakura for that. "Mes, may you leave the two of us alone? There's something I'd like to ask of Bakura."

"Oh, alright…" she didn't know what that was about but she waved to Bakura and hugged her father before she left. She didn't know where she should go so she headed off to the marketplace absentmindedly. She wondered what the two of them were going to talk about. She saw some of the children of town playing with some dogs and a ball. She smiled at them but some of them ran off. They still probably thought she was a witch.

One of the little boys stopped in front of her and pointed. "Are you the witch?" he asked. She frowned.

"No, I'm a shepherd and a magician," she bent down to meet his eye level. He looked confused. "I do magic like this!" she clapped her hands together and separated them. In between her hands galloped the form of horses on fire. The boy was amazed and he called some of his friends over. They crowded around her and she laughed. She performed some tricks for the children and pretty soon there were a lot of children, sitting on the sand. Some of their mothers watched with them and she spotted Nakia with Skylar and Issar. Nakia waved at her and she waved back.

Some of the children requested her to make a duck out of water or to make it rain fire in the sky. She created baby lambs of water and made them dance then she raised the sand in the form of tiny crocodiles and hippos. The children applauded and 'oohed' at her tricks but pretty soon the sun began to set and she bowed to the children, waving goodbye to them. She hadn't realized the time had passed so fast. This was the closest she had ever gotten to a real audience. Giddy inside, she clapped her hands. One day she would be in the Pharaoh's Court, performing magic for him and his guardians.

Nakia came up to her and grabbed her hands."My, Meskhenet, you have become such a wonderful magician!"

"Thank you, Nakia, that means a lot coming from you," she hugged the older woman. "By the way, is Master Zaim back yet?"

"I'm afraid not, but he wrote to us. He said he should be returning within the coming week," said Nakia.

"Thank you," Meskhenet smiled, a little worried of why Zaim was so late in coming back. Nakia said goodbye and she and Skylar left. Meskhenet turned to the direction of her house and spotted Bakura, standing over there watching her. She wondered how long he had been there, she hadn't noticed him. She pranced over to him, kicking up sand and passing a vendor selling watermelons. "Well, did my father bite you?"

"No."

He was beginning to annoy her with his short answers. "What did you talk about?" she tried. He didn't answer. She poked his arm. "If it's private, I won't pry." He still didn't respond. "Well, if you want to be alone I'll go back home."

She walked off but he grabbed her wrist and she turned around. "I—"

"Oh! Right, I was supposed to help you confess," she said as she jumped in front of him. He let her wrist go and looked down at his feet. "Are you alright?" He was probably embarrassed and shy because he was going to confront the girl of his dreams. "Don't worry, if you can't formulate words in front of her, I'll talk for you. Now," she looked around the marketplace. The sun hadn't set yet so there were still plenty of people wandering about. "Which girl is she?"

Bakura was looking at her, but she nudged his arm with her elbow and he looked at the marketplace. He scanned the area and she waited for him to point out the girl, but when he didn't for a long time she wondered if he even knew who the girl was. She was beginning to get annoyed, instead of looking for the girl; he seemed more like he was searching for _a_ girl. "Well?"

He pointed quickly to some girl who was talking to a man. The girl was pretty with blue eyes and black hair that was tied into a ponytail. She was a little taller than Meskhenet, curvier with a slightly bigger bust, wearing a simple light tan and blue dress. _Well, she's pretty._ Meskhenet didn't recognize the girl as anyone she knew. She turned to Bakura and smiled. He was just staring at the girl. "She's pretty," he didn't reply. "Do you know her name?"

Bakura looked surprised at her. "No." Oh, so he basically didn't know the girl. She grabbed his arm and pulled him along, he seemed reluctant. "Wait, Khenet, this is a bad idea."

"If you don't tell her how you feel now, you're going to regret it," she looked at him but then turned to the girl. _Too late…_ the man the girl had been speaking to kissed the girl on the lips and she blushed. Meskhenet and Bakura stopped. The girl was already taken! She knew he should've confessed sooner. The girl and man walked away together hand-in-hand, the girl was giggling at something the man said.

A deep shallowness engulfed her heart like waves crashing into village. Meskhenet felt sad for Bakura. The girl wasn't his soulmate. She turned to him and placed a hand on his arm. He looked conflicted with emotion, but he didn't look sad. "I'm sorry," she said, and he looked at her.

"It's fine…" and he walked away, looking a little lonely. He reminded her of a hurt dog. She was going to follow after him but didn't and turned to go home, thinking he might want to be alone. She walked home, counting her steps and thinking of today. "He looked so sad…" she said to herself. He must've been so lonely. He had to live through his village being killed off by raiders, he lived as a thief to get by and people saw him as scum and now he had no chance with the girl of his dreams. How could someone live like that? If it was her, she probably would have killed herself.

Wait! She slowed her pace and turned around. It was night now; no one was out here… what if Bakura couldn't take it anymore? What if the girl was the last straw to drive him over the edge? What if all the pain and loneliness in him swallowed him whole? No, she couldn't accept that! She had to let him know that he wasn't alone regardless of what he thought! She was his friend and she was still here for him.

She ran passed the marketplace and down the streets until she nearly ran passed the baker's shop. She skidded to a stop, doing a double take and looking around. Was Bakura up there? "Bakura!" she whispered in a hiss, but no reply came. Oh, no, did he jump already? She looked around but didn't see any dead body. "Bakura!" She picked up a rock from the floor and threw it over the baker's shop. Still no reply came, "Bakura!"

"What are you doing?" came his accented voice. She whipped around and he was standing there with his horse's reins in his hands. He looked confused at her, an eyebrow raise and his head slightly tilted. _Oh, thank the gods!_ She went over to him and hugged him. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her off. She hoped he wasn't taking this the wrong way; she wasn't trying to make any advances on him now that the girl of his dreams was taken.

"I thought rejection would drive you over the edge." She placed a hand on her chest and took a deep breath.

" _What?_ " he said confused.

"Don't kill yourself, Bakura, I still haven't gotten time to see Diabound that often and you still have a long life ahead of you."

"Kill myself?"

"Yes, don't, life may seem helpless, but I'm here for you if you need me," she grabbed his hand. He pulled away and then laughed. She was confused, she thought he was sad but he seemed alright now.

"Kill myself? You thought I was going to _kill_ myself?" he laughed. She didn't find it funny. "I've gone through horrors that you can barely imagine. A stupid girl isn't going to make me kill myself."

"Good, I don't know what I'll do if you died," she said quietly. He seemed surprise at her comment, but she was relieved that he had no plans of suicide. "Well… um, I guess goodnight?" and she took off, leaving him staring after her.

* * *

Super busy this week, getting ready to wrap up the semester. I was informed later that they did have scissors at that time, but I didn't think his reaction would be the same if it wasn't a knife :P.


	14. Chapter XIV: The Soldiers

Chapter XIV: The Soldiers

Meskhenet went out to the falls and found Bakura's black steed grazing. Bakura was in the water, doing something (she hoped he wasn't bathing). She spotted Diabound slithering through the grass to meet her and she crouched down and petted Diabound's head. The snake seemed pleased, to her complete surprise the snake had two little white wings protruding out of its back.

"Oh, my, Diabound, you look wonderful today," she said and Diabound swayed as if eager she noticed. "Did you shed your skin?" she asked playfully and the snake shook its head. It rose higher and flapped its little wings. "Oh! What are these?" she tentatively grabbed Diabound's wings and moved them up and down. "You sprouted wings!" she was acting like she hadn't noticed but she chuckled and petted the snake. Bakura came over with only a shendyt on. He had apparently been washing his tunic as he was twisting it to get the water out. Meskhenet looked at him and laughed. "What happened to Diabound?"

Bakura looked at his ka but didn't say anything. "He evolved," he simply said. Well, she knew that but she wanted to know how or rather why? He said he was able to summon his ka because of his hatred, maybe he was angry with the girl and Diabound evolved? She wasn't quite sure it worked that way but Bakura didn't seem at all affected by the girl. "You're wearing the veil." He pointed out.

Meskhenet touched it. Yes, she had thrown on a dress her father bought her (she didn't really need a new dress but he insisted). It was sleeveless with a colored neckline of blue, red and gold. It was white and had a similar styled sash around her waist. The dress's skirt had a gap in the middle, exposing her knees slightly and down. She wore the veil he had given her over her shoulders.

"You look nice," he smiled. "What's the occasion?"

"There isn't one," she returned the smile. "Thank you for the compliment. You look like a very rugged and handsome thief." He laughed. "What are you doing? Washing your clothes?"

"Yes," he said.

"I hope that's all you're washing?" she quirked an eyebrow at him. She felt like she was being more open with him without the awkwardness and to be honest, she liked it better this way. He seemed to enjoy it and that made her happy.

"Yes, it is," he looked at her, "Unless you need some washing?" She had a feeling he wasn't talking about her clothes, but she brushed him off.

"Unless you'd like to bathe my sheep, other than that I don't need anything washed," she crouched down and picked up Diabound. "Can he fly?"

"I haven't tried it," he wrung out some more water from his tunic. She looked around. "What are you thinking?"

She turned to the waterfall and raised Diabound up towards the sky, "We can throw him off the waterfall and see if he flies," Diabound slithered around her arm and neck like he didn't like her idea.

"No, I'm sure Diabound wouldn't like that," she wasn't actually sure Diabound would _survive_ that. She was merely joking. She wouldn't throw Diabound off a waterfall; it might have hurt or killed Bakura.

"Why are you keeping your ka out? It's dangerous."

"Diabound likes you so he wanted to come out," _Diabound's your ka. He likes me because you like me…_ "Besides, there's no danger I can't handle. Diabound may look small but he can bite quite hard." Bakura came over from behind her. He was so close that she felt his breath on her neck. "Would you like me to demonstrate?"

Meskhenet jumped back, spinning around. What was he doing? Her veil was wet now. He was laughing at her. Was he teasing her or flirting with her? She wasn't quite sure, but she lightly punched him in the arm. "Stop teasing me…" He looked at her and touched her face, leaning close to her. She moved his hand away and moved back. What was wrong with him? She wasn't some girl he could run to just because the other girl broke his heart… she didn't appreciate him using her like that. "Stop it, Bakura." He looked rather angry, but he moved away from her and she put Diabound down. He gave her the same look he did the other night after he had walked off. The look of loneliness.

Her heart ached. She didn't like seeing him that way. "Bakura?"

He didn't say anything but looked away. "Have any of your belongings gone missing?" Ah, so he was changing the subject.

She thought for a moment and touched her earring. "No. Why?"

"Someone took my dagger and a few of my treasures," she was rather surprised by that. _A thief was being robbed,_ how odd did that sound. "They'll soon come to know that no one steals from me," _but someone just did…_ "And gets away with it," he completed.

"I hope you won't do anything too drastic? We can hunt down the thief together, if you want?" she offered, hoping he'd say yes.

"I don't need your help," and he walked right back to the falls. Somehow his words felt more like he was telling her to go. She hesitated, watching him enter the water but she walked off, a little sad. She hoped she hadn't hurt his feelings when she told him to stop but she didn't like him approaching her like that. They already set their boundaries months ago and they had concluded they were just friends. She still didn't like the look he gave her.

She went back home for the rest of the day and prepared a meal for her father. He wouldn't be home until sunset so she was a little too early. Bored, she went to her study but there wasn't much she could do besides read some more about kas (the same books she already read) so she left her house around afternoon and wandered around town. Two children ran passed her, looking rather frightened.

 **"** Is something wrong?" she asked before the children could run off from her. She bent down towards the children. The boy was the same one who called her a witch from the audience.

"It's the magician!" he said and the girl with him turned to Meskhenet. She was glad he hadn't said witch.

"Some soldiers caught a thief," the little girl said, grabbing the boy's hand and running off. A thief… no, it couldn't be Bakura. He was too quick to get caught. She became worried though and rushed off towards the direction the children had come. The town was empty on this side, mainly because it was the residential area along near the prison house that the townspeople avoided. The prison house was hardly in use, but the soldiers of Mallawi hung out there at times, most of the people and soldiers living in this side of town hung out in the marketplace as there were much more to do there. She passed under an archway as she neared the prison house. She slowed down her pace when she saw who the thief was.

It was Bakura! He was struggling against two soldiers who were holding him down on his knees. His hands were bounded by rope behind him with a rope tied over his mouth. A soldier kicked him in the abdomen. There were three of them, two holding him down while one watched, giving out orders. Bakura yanked an arm out from one of their grasps, but the third soldier punched him in the face and the soldier who had been holding him grabbed his arm once more before kicking him in the abdomen again. She couldn't believe her eyes. How could men be so cruel? He was only a thief… he hadn't hurt anyone. Bakura looked like he wanted to kill the men but they had him pinned down. How could he have gotten himself caught?

The soldiers were about to drag him to the prison house. In her mind, all she saw were the flashes of memories of when they were ten and Zaim dragged her away while the soldiers had taken Bakura away. Feeling the anger surge within her, she clutched her hands tightly, "What's going on here?!" she asked, and the soldiers looked up at her. Bakura did too though he looked ashamed and angry to see her.

"Ah, it's Master Zaim's apprentice," the third soldier said. He grabbed Bakura's hair and pulled him up to his feet. Meskhenet felt like punching the stupid soldier. _They have degraded from what they used to be…_

"This thief was caught stealing some jewelry," the second guard said. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, shaking in anger.

"He's just a thief," she said quietly.

"All crime must be served with punishment." The third soldier responded. She wanted to burn them, make them suffer. What was wrong with them? Different crimes needed to be punished differently, stealing wasn't the same as killing or assaulting someone, there was no need to beat him. They should have just locked him up. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

"Let him go," she said, and the third guard laughed at her, mockingly. The other two looked amused but she repeated herself. "Let him go."

"You may be Master Zaim's apprentice, but it isn't your say for him to be let go. He needs to learn his lesson."

She didn't even bother listening to them as her mind raced with what to do. Somewhere deep inside of her, she knew Bakura wouldn't like what she was about to do, but last time she was helpless to do anything. This time, she wasn't going to just leave him. She hadn't tried using her illusion magic on humans before but she figured now was as good a time as any. She raised her hand up and took a deep breath. Her eyes glowed white and suddenly the two soldiers looking at her froze. The third looked at them and then turned to her, and he too froze in place. "You will obey my command: Let him go and forget this ever happened."

"Yes," the soldiers droned, one took out a knife and cut the rope off of Bakura's hands. He rubbed his wrists and stood up, turning to look at the soldiers. He glanced at her then back at the men. She dropped her hand and her eyes went back to normal, feeling slightly light headed like she was going to faint. She placed a hand on her head. The soldiers seemed to snap out of their trance.

"What was I doing?" one soldier asked, shaking his head. "I can't remember…"

The third soldier looked at Meskhenet. "Oh, hello, Master Zaim's apprentice," he said. She smiled lightly at him even though she honestly wanted to punch him in the face. The spell seemed to work fine despite it being her first time using that on humans, but she supposed humans and animals weren't all that different. The unsuspecting mind was the most valued target as Zaim put it. "I'm not sure what we're doing here, but we should go back onto patrol." He nodded towards her, and the three soldiers left, still wondering why they were outside the prison house.

Bakura was still rubbing his wrist, he spat out some blood, but was staring at her. She didn't really know what to say to him, too fatigued to pay him much attention. Her legs felt weak. She tried walking over to him, unfortunatel her legs gave out and she collapsed. He ran and caught her before she hit the ground. The world seemed like it was spinning, up was down and down was up and the whole village was twirling around her. Ugh, she held the bridge of her nose. The spell must have used up a lot of her magic. She should've remembered that illusion magic was harder to perform; maybe she should've just sent fireballs their way.

"I wasn't aware you could use magic like that," Bakura said, moving her hair out of her face. She laughed a bit.

"I'm not supposed to use my magic like that," last time she had used her magic on another human being, it hadn't ended up well. Zaim had since then forbade her from using magic around other people _unless_ it was merely performance magic. She felt really weak. "What were you doing?" she asked, concerned. She wiped the blood off his lip, but he slightly moved away from her. He didn't reply and helped her to her feet. She was a bit unsteady but could stand on her own. She spotted a little boy, peeking from the archway; he looked like he was crying. He wore a dirty short tunic and had dark blue hair; slowly the little boy approached them. He looked about eight or nine.

Bakura walked over to a corner, passed the prison house next to someone else's house, and picked up something. Meskhenet realized it was a silver and red necklace. He crossed over to her and the boy, handing the jewelry over to the boy who sniffled. "Here and don't lose it again," the boy nodded. Meskhenet was surprised. Did Bakura steal the necklace on behalf of the boy? She wasn't quite certain but it seemed rather odd. "He's our little thief from around town. For the last year, items around town were going missing," Bakura nodded to the boy. Meskhenet looked at him, and the boy shrunk back like he was afraid of her. "He took my dagger."

She looked at Bakura, not truly believing that he could have been stolen from. "How'd he get your dagger?"

"Your people don't exactly welcome strangers," he said rudely to her. "They've been going around accusing me of his crimes so I wanted to clear my name." Ah, so he used his items as bait to catch the thief.

She turned her attention to the little boy who caught her gaze. _So he too has been corrupted by society…_ "I—I'm sorry!" the boy cried. Meskhenet just patted his head. "I—I wasn't trying to cause any trouble. I just needed some money for my mom. She's… she's sick!"

"Stealing isn't right, though," she said, bending down to the boy's eye level. "You should return this to whoever you sto—"

"That's rightly his," Bakura cut in. She looked up at him. "It's his mother's; the soldiers took it away when the boy tried to pawn it for gold." He had to sell his mother's necklace for gold to more than likely buy medicine. _How sad,_ she thought. She grabbed the boy's hand and he wiped his eyes.

"Let's go and get your mother some medicine," the boy looked at her confused, but she smiled. Bakura merely gazed at her. The two of them walked to the pawn shop and Meskhenet told the boy to keep his mother's necklace and trade it in only when it was absolutely necessary. She didn't really like the thought of giving up her earring, but it was far more valuable than the necklace. She had treasured the earring for five years because she saw it as a symbol of her friendship with Bakura. It was a reminder of him when he wasn't there, but now he was here. She didn't need it anymore. She traded the earring for money then took the boy to the doctor. Paying the doctor, she told the doctor to go with the boy to his home to see his mother and she gave whatever money she got from the earring for medicine.

"Thank you, miss," the boy said, and she patted him on the head.

"It was rather nice of you to help him, Meskhenet," the doctor smiled. He took the boy's hand. "Come on, we need to see your mother." The boy led the doctor away. Even though the doctor was expensive, she knew he too was just trying to make a living for his family. The world ran on money, gold was so valuable to people but gold was corruption. People stole because of it.

Sighing, she shook her head, deciding to head home. The world was cruel and it used its dirty hands to craft thieves, liars and cruel people. When she was a child back at her farm, things seemed so much simpler but now that she got older and saw more people, she realized just how dark it was. It was sad…

She walked right passed Bakura at her house without realizing it at first, but she turned around, walking over to her door and smiling at him. "Are you alright?" she asked him, but he was merely looking at her. He was leaning on her door with his arms crossed.

"Where's your earring?" he asked instead. She gave him a sad look.

"How are you?" she tried again without answering his question. He marched on over towards her and grabbed her wrist tightly.

"I didn't need your help."

Blinking at her, she felt something in her spark, trying to keep it at bay, she laughed hollowly. "I'm sure you didn't, but I wanted to help. A thank you will suffice." She tried prying his hand off, but his grip was really tight. She wanted him to let her go, too tired for this.

"You made me look like a fool!" his grip tightened and she winced in pain. Was that all he cared about? No one would even remember what happened besides her and maybe the boy if he had been watching.

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't just stand by and let you get beaten!" she yelled at him, the spark turning into a fire. Ra, why couldn't he just thank her?! Or pretend it didn't happen, why was he yelling at her? She hit his hand but it didn't do any good. "You know… maybe you think your pride is hurt but how in Ammit's name am I supposed to feel, huh? My friend is getting beaten and treated wrong by some lowly stupid soldiers! I guess I should have just watched and waited for you to do something heroic!" He looked like he wanted to slap her, but instead he threw her aside and she fell on the ground.

"Damn it, Khenet, it isn't always about how _you_ feel!" he walked away without even bothering to help her up. She got up weakly, using the wall of her house as support. She somehow knew he wasn't referring to her saving him with the soldiers. It was about something else, but she didn't know what. She was angry with him and he was angry with her. _What just happened…?_

She was tired and didn't even know what just happened. What were they arguing about? Her head hurt and she couldn't quite remember what they had been talking about earlier. She went inside straight to her room and fell asleep.

* * *

I tried making the chapter names consisted with 'The..." and then a living subject, but in The Gift chapter broke that so lately I've been breaking that. Anyhow, in case you forgot, Meskhenet didn't just magically learn illusion magic (I call hypnosis illusion magic in this story, maybe it's supposed to be dark magic?) she was learning it earlier I think in chap 11 it mentioned she was reading about it. I skimp most of her training and actually practicing magic because this story isn't about that :P

The magic she used is similar to the mind control/hypnosis Aknadin used on the soldiers to attack Kul Elna in the anime, except its weaker. I don't think his eyes glowed though? Lol I don't totally remember.


	15. Chapter XV: The Soulmate

Chapter XV: The Soulmate

Meskhenet hadn't seen Bakura in a while but she hadn't actually left her house either. Whatever side effects from that spell made her feel weak and sick so she stayed at her, mainly in her room. If Bakura had come to her study, she didn't know. Their odd fight hadn't made her condition any better. Thinking about it confused her as well as made her feel icky inside like something wasn't right.

Nakia came knocking on the door one day. No sooner had Meskhenet opened the door did the older woman welcomed herself in, looking excited and panicked all at once. To be bluntly honest, Meskhenet wasn't entirely interested as her mind was too busy reeling about Bakura and Ra, she just wanted to sleep.

"Zaim is back!" Nakia said. _Oh, good…_ maybe that news should've meant something to her, but Meskhenet couldn't quite remember why he left. Nakia grabbed Meskhenet's hand and let it go then grabbed it again. "He and Skylar...!"

"Hmm?" she asked distractly.

"Ahem," Nakia tried to calm herself down, it didn't work though, Meskhenet could see the excitement still bouncing within her. "Zaim and Skylar would like to humbly invite you and your father, Yaqeen, to their banquet."

Meskhenet tried to process that for a while. Banquet… _oh!_ Zaim wanted to wed Skylar?! In an instant, her drowsiness and sickness was gone like magic and whatever thoughts of Bakura were shoved aside. _Zaim was getting married!_ She was surprised and happy for him. After Anya's death, he seemed rather glum. He didn't have a mother for Issar and he had hired Skylar to be the wet nurse, she had cared and nurtured Issar for quite a while so it was only fitting for her to become his actual mother. That was such great news! Meskhenet hugged Nakia who was crying with tears of joy.

"This is fantastic!" Meskhenet exclaimed.

"I know! Oh, Ra, I need to get back. I need to prepare the feast. Oh, why am I still here?!" she hurried off in a rush and Meskhenet laughed, closing the door and going over to her room. She lay down in her sheets, thinking what this meant. She would need to actually go to their house for the banquet, wouldn't she? She should help Nakia prepare the feast… Nakia shouldn't do it alone. But without Nakia's excitement, she felt rather lethargic again.

Meskhenet lied over there for an hour or so before she forced herself to leave the house. The sheep were gone and so was her father, probably out at the Nile. She wanted to check the falls if Bakura was there but it seemed so far away. Wait… Bakura was angry at her, for what again? Ugh, her brain hurt too much to remember. She turned around and headed to Zaim's house.

Zaim wasn't there; he apparently went to see her father at the Nile. Skylar was playing with Issar—she already lived in their house but Nakia told Meskhenet that Zaim and Skylar would be moving out much to her grief, probably closer to Thebes. Skylar was a pretty woman around her mid-twenties. She had dark violet hair that looked black with nice almond colored eyes. She was a very quiet and timid woman, Meskhenet hadn't actually heard her speak but apparently Nakia and she had tons of conversations (according to Nakia).

Meskhenet helped prepare the meal and Skylar tried helping too, but Nakia told her off. Zaim came back with Meskhenet's father when night had fallen but most of the food had been prepared and laid out. Skylar was looking rather shy and embarrassed during the whole feast. They had invited Skylar's family over along with Meskhenet and her father. They were the only guests invited but it was a lively night. Meskhenet was really happy for Zaim who looked rather embarrassed. She was sure Anya would be happy too. It was nice to see Zaim in love again; she never really saw the way he looked at Skylar, seeing it now though made her heart melt. Wouldn't it be nice if someone looked at her that way?

When the banquet was over, Meskhenet and her father bid them goodnight and headed off home. Her father had a little too much to drink and was singing and coughing. She laughed at him as she tried to keep him steady. When they got home, she helped him to his bed and he instantly dozed off. She was tired too and went to sleep as well, entering the dream world, something she hadn't remember doing in a long while…

 _She was standing in an endless land of water, lily pads at her feet with blue lotuses growing out. There was a nice breeze too that blew in her crimson hair. She didn't look like she was in Egypt. Where was she? Everywhere she looked it was the same, just an endless floor of water. Whatever this place, she felt blissfully at peace and wondered why…_

 _She heard a child laughing causing her to turn around. She saw a field of wheat, blowing in the wind. It was very familiar to her and then she spotted someone she hadn't seen in a long time. Her mother, she was there. Oh, her mother looked so beautiful with her soft red hair—it was the same as Meskhenet's, but her mother wore it just at her shoulders. She had lovely green eyes like grass and always dressed simply, wearing a simple but elegant dress of white and black. There with her mother was a child version of herself, helping her mother pick the wheat._

 _Her child-self ran off only for her mother to frantically call out for her to come back, but her little self didn't. It made Meskhenet's heart ache as she remembered she had never got to say goodbye to her mother._

 _Fiddling with her fingers, she stepped closer to the field of wheat, wishing her mother could see her now. To her utter surprise, her mother turned around and smiled at her._

 _"You look so beautiful," the warm hand came near her and touched her face. Her mother wore a gentle smile. She was a few inches taller than Meskhenet, but she was so regal. Her warm touch made Meskhenet remember how much she liked her mom's touch; it was always so gentle and made her feel like she was home._

 _The waves of emotions that she had buried within her came crashing into her and sadness took over. "Momma… I am so sorry," she cried, tears rolling down her face. Had it not been for her, her mother would've still been alive. If only she had gotten the horses back in time, if only she had stopped and turned back home then._

 _Her mother shushed her and wiped away her tears. "Do not cry, Meskhenet, I am here," she leaned forward and kissed Meskhenet on the forehead before she disappeared in light._

 _"Momma!" Meskhenet called, but the light disappeared and so did the field of wheat. Suddenly, she was standing in a pit of snakes and Apep was there, laughing his maniacal laugh. The snakes coiled, slithered and hissed at her feet, making her let out a loud scream._

 _"You are a powerful magician. I will flay you and devour your flesh!" he laughed. She forced herself to run in the opposite direction of the snakes and him. He came after her almost as if he was gliding._

 _"Leave me alone!" she shouted, shutting her eyes and placing her hands over her ears. He laughed though and he kept on laughing. She ran and ran but she couldn't escape him, eventually she tripped and fell on her knees in darkness. Apep's voice was gone and for a brief moment she felt alone then someone offered their hand to her. She took it, but then the person used a knife and cut her hand. Horrified, she looked up to see who it was. It was Zaabit! He was smiling his fake sweet smile._

 _"Do not worry, little calf, you will not need to endure much longer," he reached out for her, but she moved back._

 _"No! Get away from me!" She covered her face with her arms, awaiting his hand to touch her…but nothing happened. When she looked up, she was in complete darkness again. Sniffling and looking her uncut hand over, she stood up, rubbing the palm of her hands, still feeling the cold metal against her skin. Looking on ahead, she spotted another memory, another version of herself, younger than she was now, but older than when she was with her mother. Her younger self sat on a chair in a simple room next to a plain bed where Anya lied down, her stomach was large with Issar and Anya was humming a tune to herself._

 _"How could you have fallen in love with such a man?" the younger Meskhenet asked. Meskhenet approached the memory. "He's cruel."_

 _Anya gave her a sad look and touched her forehead. "I cannot apologize for the way that he treated you, but he has changed. If you just try and see, he has changed." Anya held her stomach. "The world corrupted him and he took it out on you. I cannot ask you to forgive him, but I hope that with the birth of our child, the past can be placed behind us."_

 _The younger Meskhenet frowned and shook her head, running off. Anya called out to her but the younger Meskhenet didn't turn back, continuing to run until she disappeared into the darkness. Anya looked to the present Meskhenet and gave her a sad smile. "You love him too. Please, find forgiveness in your heart."_

 _And she disappeared in a whirl of blue petals. Meskhenet was once more at the endless water, but she no longer was alone. Bakura was there and so was Diabound. Relieved that she was no longer alone with a memory, she called out for him but her voice felt so far away and he didn't seem to hear her. No matter how many times she called or how loud she got, he never once turned to look at her. It broke her heart. She ran to him, but it didn't feel like she was moving at all. She eventually gave up. Why was he so close to her but so far away? Her heart ached painfully like a knife was etching scars onto it. Looking at him though somehow made her feel rather calm and happy and she didn't know why._

 _Her father's voice echoed through the endless water, sending ripples from her to Bakura. "True love is a very complicated feeling, but it exists. True love is when it stops being about you and more about them. Happiness for you is their happiness, you feel safe and secure with them, it doesn't matter whether you touch or talk, their presence is what makes you happy and everything that they do, regardless of how infuriating is what makes you love them even more."_

 _She touched her chest. Her calmness… was her security and she was always happy when Bakura was near. Her heart didn't pound wildly but he made her happy just by being there. She wanted him happy because when he was sad, it made her sad and his happiness was an extension of her happiness. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath._

 _She was in love with Bakura…_

She woke up and stared at the ceiling, blinking. What kind of dream was that? Did she drink anything last night? No, she was most positively sure she hadn't. Sitting up in her bed of sheets, she touched her heart. Was it true? Did she love Bakura? Her stirrings had disappeared a long time ago, what she felt now… it couldn't have truly been love, could it? What was there to love about him? He was a jerk, foul mouthed, perverted (to some extent) and rude! But he was also kind and thoughtful, not just to her, but he had showed concern for her father, he held some kind of charm about him and oh! It was sometimes so infuriating. Her heart was pounding like it usually did but there was something else to it… wings, it felt like her heart was fluttering.

She threw the covers off her and quickly changed her clothes to a plain light tan tunic that was long sleeved with a patterned neckline of red and black. She ran out her house and went straight for the falls, not caring at all that she had no idea what she was doing, oh Ra, she forgot to put on her shoes! She was too far away from town when she realized that so she continued onwards. Upon reaching the falls, she slowed down her pace; spotting Bakura sitting next to his black steed that stood grazing near him. Stepping closer to him, she realized how different it felt. She felt happy and secure like no one, not Apep or Zaabit or anyone could touch her. She laughed to herself which caught his attention as he heard her and turned to look up at her.

He didn't say anything, just went on staring at her. Suddenly, she remembered the boundaries that they had established and the fact that he had just basically found out the girl that he liked didn't like him—his eyes had been on that girl. He didn't love her. She felt like a fool for running out here. What was she exactly planning on doing? Confessing? He probably was hurt by the girl's current relationship status and he didn't need her to be acting like a fool, trying to confuse him. If she confessed, he would probably jump at the chance to be with her because he was lonely. That would've hurt though, he would only be fooling himself, of course there was always that possibility that he would downright reject her.

She looked at him, blinking and heart aching. "I have to go," she said.

"But you just got here," he state, but she took off back to town.

She couldn't go home, he'd probably show up and that would just tempt her to talk to him and perhaps confess. She steered away from the marketplace and the baker's shop; those were all places he would go. In the end, she found a nice little alleyway that was quite narrow and quite hidden. She sat herself down and hugged her knees.

"I'm such a fool," she laughed to herself. Her heart ached but not like before. She didn't feel like crying. She just sat there for a long, long time, not entirely sure what to feel. A little girl came over and she recognized the little girl as the one who had been petting her sheep oh so many months ago. The little girl sat across from her, and she smiled at the little girl.

"What are you doing?" the little girl asked.

"I'm hiding."

"From what?" the little girl asked.

"A friend," it wasn't a lie. The little girl looked confused but sat there with Meskhenet. The girl was there for quite some time until her parents came and took her away. By that time, the sun was beginning to set, figuring her father would be worried, she decided she needed to head home and so she did.

The walk home was long and lonely, so lonely she could've just given up and died from the aching in her heart. Life was cruel; she shook her head and continued to trudge down the sand to her home, feeling the coolness through her toes. When she got home, the minute she closed the door, she heard her father call her to his room. Sighing, she went over passed her study and entered her father's room that was rather plain like hers except he had an actual bed with a nightstand next to it. Her father was sitting up in his bed with the covers over him. He had somehow managed to beat her home still even though she had been closer. He looked a little worried as he coughed.

"Hello, Father."

"Hello? You make it sound like you have not seen me in forever," he laughed. "What's wrong, Mes?"

She thought of denying that things were okay, but he always knew when she was lying. Sighing in defeat, she replied, "I'm in love."

Her father chuckled. "Do I know the man?" he had a twinkle in his eye like he already knew the answer. She just laughed. "Oh, Mes, love isn't something to fear." _It is when the one you love doesn't love you._ "You should embrace it." She looked at him sadly.

"I cannot," she replied. "Have you eaten?"

"Yes, Nakia gave me some leftovers from yesterday. I hope you have fun," he said, and she quirked an eyebrow at him. 'Have fun'? Shouldn't he have said 'had fun'? Wait, was he referring to yesterday or was he referring to tonight? He made it sound like she was going somewhere.

"Am I going somewhere?"

He looked surprised. "Are you?"

"No…?"

"O—oh," he seemed disappointed. Did he know something? He gestured her over and she marched over to him. He reached over and hugged her. "Well, have a goodnight." She was about to leave, but then he called to her. "Mes, I think I left a candle lit in the study, would you mind blowing it out?"

"Of course, Father, goodnight," she closed his door and headed towards the study. She didn't see any light from the crack in the door at the bottom, not trusting herself enough she opened the study room anyways to check but to her complete surprise, Bakura was over there, sitting on her window sill. He was wearing a black robe with an open tunic and shendyt. She didn't say anything to him. Her father must've gotten confused. There was no candle lit, let alone a candle in sight. "What are you doing here? It's late."

She didn't really want him there. "I want to take you somewhere," he said. Oh, so he wasn't even going to ask her? He jumped off the sill and moved closer, but she took a step back. She wasn't in the mood for this. She didn't want to go anywhere with him.

"Can't this wait until tomorrow or later?" she asked. He shook his head and reached out for her arm only for her to pull away. "I really don't want to go…"

"Are you sure?" he asked, and she nodded. He walked right up to her; she stood her ground, leaning slightly away. They stood over there for a while in silence, just staring into the other's eyes. She was still wondering what he was doing here. Her father had made it sound like she was going somewhere and Bakura wanted to take her somewhere… she sighed and placed a hand over her face. Her father was in cahoots with Bakura! He hadn't left any candle lit in the study, he sent her here because he knew Bakura was here. _Oh, you're such a fool._

"I don't want to go," she stubbornly said again. Bakura merely frowned. He bent down and threw her over his shoulder. "What are you doing?!"

"Well, if you're not going to come willingly, I'll just have to take you by force," he said, sounding very agitated. He carried her out of her house and to his tacked up black steed. She struggled for him to let her go, but clearly her efforts were futile. He placed her on the ground, in front of his horse that looked at her and snorted. Picking her by her waist, he placed her up on his horse before quickly getting on behind her. She crossed her arms and glared at him to no effect. He placed his hands on the reins at either side of her so that she couldn't move. Kicking the sides of his horse, he sent his horse into a gallop and they left Mallawi.

She couldn't believe it. He was practically kidnapping her and she couldn't believe that her father was in on the plan too. Did they frequently talk to each other when she wasn't there? If she remembered correctly, they hadn't actually met that long ago. It was only some days, maybe a week? She wasn't that sure… _Where is he taking me?_ What place was so important that he couldn't wait?

He had been acting strange, and she had assumed it was because of his loneliness from the automatic rejection of the girl of his dreams but he never spoke about the girl and he acted like he just didn't care. Men were so confusing. She couldn't tell if he was hurt by the girl or not, he seemed conflicted at times and other times he seemed fine. _She_ was conflicted now. She had discovered she was in love with the jerk, however she didn't want to push her feelings onto him when he was trying to recover from the girl. It was a little painful to be with him, but for the sake of their friendship she needed to keep her feelings to herself.

They rode on through the night and at one point, they changed horses, leaving the black steed at some farmer's place and taking a bay one. He still hadn't told her where they were going, and she was getting rather tired. He turned his horse up a rocky slope, Meskhenet looked around, and they were climbing higher than the desert up to some cliffs. The terrain had changed from its usual endless desert of sand to a rocky terrain filled with cliffs and wide ravines that stretched as far as she could see. She hadn't been this far south before but judging from the fancy statues and pillars in certain areas, she figured they must have been at the Valley of the Kings.

He stopped the horse on a cliff, overlooking the Valley. He helped her down, and she stared at him. She gave him an angry look, glaring at him. He couldn't wait to take her here? It didn't seem all that important. He had asked her months ago to come with him here; she hadn't had the time though. She didn't see why this was so important.

"Look," he said and pointed to the sky, but she was still glaring at him. He looked down at her and glared back. "Look!" he grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face the ravine; however it wasn't the ravine that he wanted her to look at. It was the sky. She gasped. It looked beautiful! The sun was beginning to rise, casting shadows within the Valley but it touched the blue sky, turning it different shades of orange and yellow. The land looked like it was being overwhelmed by a glowing light of orange and the sun; she could actually see it rising!

She somehow lost all her anger and was glad he took her here. It made her happy knowing she could share this view with him. She laughed, she was being foolish but when she turned to him, he wasn't looking at the sky. He was looking at her and it somehow made her feel very shy. "Umm…"

"Khenet," he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Let's run away." What? She looked at him surprised. "Forget society and their disapproving eyes, we can leave." She was confused. He was asking for them to run away? To where, from what? Was he asking her to be his partner in crime or something? She hadn't actually stolen anything… sure, she helped when they were children but she didn't really know what she was doing. "We can start a family together and go to many places."

Oh… he was confessing to her in his own weird way. She laughed at him but he looked very serious. What happened to the girl of his dreams? It wasn't _that_ long ago that they saw her. Maybe he was just confusing his feelings for the girl with Meskhenet since she hung out with him a lot. "Oh, Bakura, I know you're hurt from the girl…" at the mention of that, he looked angry and he gripped her shoulders tightly. "Bakura…?"

And then he did the unexpected and kissed her. She was shocked, but she didn't have much time to process what was happening. She only knew that he felt really, really warm and her heart felt like it was soaring through the sunrise. It felt nice but she didn't understand what was happening. Sparkes were flying, and her mind was buzzing like crazy with the thought of her future with him. _What is going on…?_ When she didn't kiss him back, he pulled away and looked hurt.

"You're in love with someone else," he said sadly and a little frustratedly. What? No! That was him! He was in love with someone else! She was so confused. What was going on? "It's that Mahad person, isn't it?"

"What?" why was he mentioning Mahad? Oh, that was the name she spat out back at their stupid game. "No! Mahad is… Mahad isn't anyone important." Somehow, Bakura looked relieved. "I—I… I like you, Bakura." It somehow made her heart squirm when she said that but it still felt like it was flying.

"Then what's wrong?"

"It's just…" she didn't know how to say it. Did he really love her? What about the other girl? He wanted to run away with her but she couldn't leave; not now… her father was ill, she knew it even though he kept denying it. Her father needed her. "I can't run away with you…"

"But do you love me?" he asked her, seriously. She looked him in the eye and felt herself forgetting how to breathe. He was looking at her expectantly. She bit her lower lip then kissed him on the cheek, a little too close to his mouth. She wasn't sure how to answer that, it felt odd of him asking her that and she felt like she couldn't speak so she nodded her head. His face lit up in a grin then he kissed her again much to her surprise. She felt her heart racing like crazy, fluttering against her chest and there was an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach almost as if birds or bugs were flying in them. She couldn't quite put her finger down on it. She did know that her adrenaline was kicking her to do more than just stand there and she definitely wanted to so this time she kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. There was something in her that craved for more than just a kiss and yet, she didn't want it to end. She liked his warm lips on hers. He moved his hands down to her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

It no longer mattered of Zaim or the other girl, against her better judgment she allowed this to happen and even willingly participated it in. _Shame on you…oh, shut up, me!_ He just confessed to her, right? So this was alright. It was fine for her to embrace this feeling? Oh, she didn't care anymore, she was blissfully happy.

Much to her disappointment, he stopped kissing her, pulling away and placing his forehead against hers. "Say it," he said. She felt his breath on her and she knew her face was hot and red. Slightly out of breath, she laughed. "Say that you love me."

She could only laugh and shake her head, but said it anyways. "I love you." And he kissed her again.

* * *

Oh, look, they're first kiss :P. By the way, on previous chapters, I think it says Meskhenet's hair is auburn or amber(?) when it was supposed to say red, I'll have to go back and re-edit some of the chapters again. Anyhow, according to what I looked up, Ancient Egypt doesn't actually have weddings D:. Supposedly they said that they have a feast, the girl moves her belongings into the man's house and voila, they're married, and divorce is just as simple. They said the rich though have contracts giving out property rights to the man and wife or something like that. At least this is the info I found, if someone found something else then please let me know~


	16. Chapter XVI: The Friend

Chapter XVI: The Friend

She somehow felt very light and extremely happy as she hummed while prancing with her sheep. Taymur looked at her lazily and bleated as if telling her that her happiness was depressing for him, but she ignored him. She didn't care what anyone said, it didn't matter what Zaim said or Taymur or anyone else. Who cared if Bakura was a thief? She was just so happy! She laughed to herself, and Taymur bleated again.

"Alright, Mr. Grumpy, I deserve some happiness too. You get twenty-four ewes to yourself, I'm allowed to have one handsome thief," but Taymur walked off while she was talking and she shook her head.

Bakura had taken her home that very morning and her father pretended like he didn't know what had happened, but he needed to speak with Zaim since Zaim had demanded it so Meskhenet had to take the sheep out to the Nile. Bakura left somewhere but promised to be back tomorrow. She wasn't quite sure if he did come back, how was she supposed to act? They were passed that friendship stage and into a romantic territory that she wasn't sure whether they were courting or…or what? They were beyond friends, not quite lovers or were they lovers? Ugh, she decided she'd just say they were romantically involved.

She slowed down her pace. Ah, she forgot to ask about the other girl. She had been too selfishly happy that the girl had escaped her thoughts. _Oh, I'll ask him later!_ Digging her shoes into the soil of the banks of the Nile, she sent her sheep out to graze while Taymur just lazily plopped down on Meskhenet's usual spot. He looked at her and bleated. Placing her hands on her hips, she glared at the ram. "What? You disapprove too? Well, maybe you're one of Zaim's spies too, but I," emphasizing herself, she pointed at her chest, "Don't care. Zaim has Skylar, Father had Mama and the Pharaoh has his Queen. I get to have someone too." Taymur looked away from her as if bored by her speech. Sighing, she took a seat next to the ram, looking at the flock that hungrily grazed over the grass.

The lambs were now fully grown; there were two males and one female which were sort of good and bad. The female could join the ewes, but they needed to sell the two young rams before breeding season which meant they would either wind up being sold for slaughter or become someone else's lead ram. Meskhenet hoped it was the latter.

Humming to herself, she began to pet the grumpy ram with her right hand. He really didn't seem to enjoy her happiness and got up to join his ewes. She sat there, lost in thought, giggling to herself as she tugged and pulled at her hooded cloak. She wondered if perhaps, just maybe, Bakura could take her to the Valley of the Kings for sightseeing more than thievery. "Oh, you're being ridiculous…you sho—" she stopped midsentence when she saw shadow loom over her, stretching ominously. Jumping to her feet, she turned to the owner of the shadow.

It was a man in robes of brown. She couldn't quite make out his face from the hood that shadowed his features, but the color of his eyes stood out. They were golden, almost glowing in the darkness; she rubbed her sleeved arm and took a step back. _What an odd color…_ He had two other people with him, dressed in similar fashion except she could tell by height and body shape that they both were female.

"Good morning," the man said. He was quite tall and seemed rather young, maybe Zaim's age but something about him gave an aura of wisdom, dark wisdom. "I was wondering, do you know where I can find a man by the name of Zaim?"

She looked surprised. Was it the same Zaim they were referring to? She wasn't quite sure, something about the man made her feel like she couldn't trust him. Zaim knew lots of people, in Thebes, Mallawi, and Beni Suef and possibly more, he never had any visit him though. It seemed like he didn't really care at all for visitors, and she was quite certain he never mentioned anyone coming to see him. Not sure whether she should answer, she kept her mouth shut, hoping perhaps they'd go away.

He turned his head to her flock as she gripped her crook tightly in her hands. "Zaim is a magician and an old friend," the man said as if trying to calm her down. "Do you know him? I was told he lives around this part of Egypt." He looked back at her and smiled, but his smile sent a chill down her spine. She fidgeted, biting her lip. He leaned in close to her, gently brushing the locks of her hair. Frightened, she moved back. "It's rare to see a female shepherd."

"Ah, Zaim is…" darting her eyes, elsewhere, she tried to make some kind of excuse. She didn't want to say that Zaim was her master and she didn't really want to say where Zaim was. The man was giving her the creeps.

"She is a magician," one of the females said in the most expressionless voice Meskhenet had ever heard from a human. She peered over him to see which one had spoken; the man turned to his companion and nodded then turned to Meskhenet who looked up at him.

"I see, another magician," he said, reaching her to her crook then he placed a cold hand over hers. _By the gods…_ he was absolutely freezing! His hand felt like it was ice and reminded her of a dead person. He stared in her brown eyes. "Where is Zaim?"

His eyes began to glow white. He was trying to hypnotize her! She shook her head and averted her gaze, quietly chanting up the counter defense spell. Zaim may have been a flawed man but he was a good magician and he had told her that illusion magic was the most dangerous magic if fell in the wrong hands so he taught her the counter defensive spells before actually teaching her illusion magic.

The man removed his hand and stepped back, frowning. "Of course, he'd teach you the counter defense spell. That is so much like him," the man chuckled. "Please, I'd only like to meet my dear old friend."

She looked around. What was she going to do? She really didn't want to tell him where Zaim was… and if this man was a magician; his followers were probably ones too. She couldn't fight three magicians at once; she was yet to be a master of magic herself and most of her magic leaned on entertainment not actual offense.

"Tell us," the monotone female said, raising her hand and it caught on fire, but it wasn't like Meskhenet's fire. It was blue and violet, emitting a high radius of heat despite the fact she was ten feet from the woman on the man's left. The man signaled her to stop.

"Now, now, we mean no harm," he replied irritated, shooting a glance at the woman who extinguished her flames.

"Ata," came Zaim's voice and the man and his followers turned around to see Zaim, standing there with an angry look in his traveler's cloak.

"Ah, old friend," Ata, the man, came over to Zaim, but Zaim didn't move. "It has been too long."

"Leave my apprentice alone."

"Oh, so she is yours," Ata glanced at Meskhenet. "She seems quite powerful."

"Whatever business you have is with me. Leave her alone," Zaim said coldly.

"Of course," Ata mockingly bowed, but that seemed to anger Zaim. "I was merely asking for you."

"Then come, let us talk elsewhere." Zaim turned around and the three followed after him, not before Ata turned to Meskhenet and bowed. He smiled at her, but his smile was sinister and Meskhenet felt herself shiver at the sight of his smile. He disappeared with Zaim and Meskhenet was left with her sheep.

* * *

A knock came on Meskhenet's door, it was a small knock but it was enough to wake the sleepy redhead. Groggily, she changed her clothes and stumbled out of her room, going over to the door and opening it. To her surprise, Skylar was standing there looking very worried. "Oh, good morning, Skylar, is everything alright?"

Nakia was standing behind Skylar, playing with Issar. The timid woman looked around, brushing her white kalasiris. "Um, yes," she was so quiet that Meskhenet could barely hear her. "Zaim, he—he didn't come home last night." Meskhenet was surprised. Did Ata do something with Zaim? No, Zaim was a very skilled magician. He should be able to take care of himself she hoped… "I—I was wondering if you knew where he was or if he was… um, here?"

"Yesterday, he left with some magician by the name of Ata," she replied, but Skylar still seemed worried. Nakia stopped as she gazed at Meskhenet, staring into her eyes. She knew something…

"Ah, Skylar, don't worry about Zaim. He can take care of himself. You should take Issar home, I'll be there shortly," Nakia smiled, handing Issar over to Skylar who seemed rather reluctant. Issar reached over to Meskhenet who took his small hand in hers and smiled. She loved children, they were always so cute.

"Sheep!" he said, referring to her. She had yet to show him her flock; Zaim didn't want his son near filthy animals. Nakia patted his head.

"I'll take you to see the sheep later. Auntie promises!" Nakia winked at the boy who looked sad. Skylar whispered something to him and he perked up, saying something about horses and puppies. The timid woman thanked Meskhenet and walked off. Watching them go, Meskhenet was shocked when Nakia pushed her inside the house and closed the door. Nakia sighed and slid down the door until she was sitting on the floor, bringing her knees to her chest.

"What's wrong?" Meskhenet asked, crouching down in front of Nakia.

"I can't believe Ata is here…" she shook her head and smiled sadly. "Meskhenet, does Zaim ever talk to you about black magic?"

"What?" Zaim never spoke of black magic. He seemed to try and focus on her area of study though he always warned her of magic in general especially illusion magic.

"No? I guess not," Nakia laughed as she stood up and brushed her dress. Meskhenet got up and titled her head at Nakia's odd behavior. "Ata is Zaim's twin brother." What? She wasn't aware that they had a brother. No one ever spoke of him. "He was the shame of our family and Zaim threw him out some years ago. He dabbled in black magic and performed horrendous experiments on living beings. He always said it was for the better good…" Nakia seemed distracted as she stared blankly at the floor. Suddenly, she looked up, moving close to the redhead and placing her hands on Meskhenet's shoulders, "Stay away from him, Meskhenet."

He was creepy and he wore a sinister smile. Meskhenet was sure to steer clear from him. "Of course…"

"No matter how strong you think you are, he will find your weakness and exploit it. He will trick you to think that he is helping you, but he's not. Everything he ever does is for his benefit alone. You must remember: he has no power over you. Don't ever forget that!" and then Nakia left in a hurry, leaving Meskhenet shivering at the thought of Ata's smile.

To busy herself, she went to her study, pulling out the chair and picking up a book she already read. _What does Ata do exactly with 'black magic'? What even constitutes as black magic if illusion magic is the most dangerous…_ she was snapped out of her thoughts when a knock came on her door. Jumping to her feet, she was relieved to see it was Bakura in a white shendyt. She blushed at him, not quite sure how to greet him. He said something, but she wasn't paying attention and before she knew it, he pulled her in for a kiss. Any thoughts she had before, fluttered away and somehow everything was safe.

She moved an arm around his neck, but then her father came from his room and watched them for a while. She noticed him and tried to pull away, but Bakura wouldn't let her. Oh, she hadn't told her father anything of their trip to the Valley of the Kings. She smacked Bakura's shoulder and he finally pulled away from her, clearing his throat when he turned and saw her father.

"Oh, ho-ho-ho, don't mind the old goat," her father smiled. "I was just passing through." He moved passed Bakura for a bit, handing Meskhenet his diadhank. "Keep that for me for a while and whatever you do, don't use it!" but the tone of his voice almost sounded like he wanted her to use it. He walked off and she wondered what she was supposed to do with his diadhank. It was a gold band connected by three golden like feather with fancy carvings and designs and an eye on the band.

She placed it down on the table, not sure what to do with it. She heard the front door close as she turned her attention from the diadhank to Bakura who was eying it. He probably didn't know what it was, feeling a little prideful of knowing something he didn't, she told him: "It's a diadhank." She remembered she used to see her father wear his when she was younger, not anymore though, only keeping his Dagger with at all times. He glanced at her as she smiled at him, placing her hands on his shoulders, "It's a device used to summon monster spirits—um, kas."

He didn't say anything, continuing to stare at the device as if it was the most intriguing thing in the world. Dropping her smile, she moved in front of the diadhank, forcing his eyes onto her. "So…what any plans for today?" For a few seconds, he just stared at her almost like she wasn't there at all. Feeling a little insecure, she glanced down, removing her hands and biting her lip. What was wrong with him? "Bakura…?"

"We can go to a tomb," he suggested, but he closed the door to her study and leaned down near her. She felt his breath on her and it made her feel shy somehow as she continued to look down, "But first…" then he kissed her, pushing her back until she bumped her table. Ignoring the uncomfortable situation, she embraced it all, wrapping both arms around his neck, feeling the strong flutters of her heart. He placed his hands on the table, coming over her. She felt her back brush against the diadhank as she was nearly flat on the table. Unforunately, he pulled away and looked to the window.

Disappointed, she did too and to her surprise, a girl around her age with blonde hair styled over her right shoulder stood outside the window, arms crossed with a disapproving look. The girl's eyes were as green as grass, slightly lighter skin than her own, wearing a simple cream color kalasiris. Gamilla was the girl's name, daughter of the local tiger nut farmer.

"Hello, Meskhenet," she said in an unfriendly tone.

Meskhenet exchanged a glance with Bakura, straightening herself out and brushing her dress. "Ahem…Gamilla, what a…unexpected surprise," she said, looking down at the floor.

"Are you going to let me in or…?" Gamilla asked. She didn't move, not wanting to let the blonde into her house. At least she was nice enough not to jump through the window, of course, that might have been too strenuous an activity for the patronizing blonde. "That's quite alright. I had places to be anyways."

"Who's this?" Bakura asked, wrapping an arm around her waist, an act that Gamilla seemed more than displeased to see.

"Gamilla," Meskhenet gestured to the girl, "This is Bakura. Bakura, this is Gamilla."

"Normally, I care about first impressions," Gamilla said, flipping her hair. "If the person mattered that is. That's not why I came _here_ ," the way she said 'here' made it sound like Meskhenet's house was bad. Meskhenet pursed her lips, trying to bury the blazing fire within.

"Well, isn't she quite the bit—"

"Come on, Gamilla!" she said quickly before Bakura could finish his sentence. "Finish your business here so I may go back to mine."

Gamilla raised an eyebrow at her, "Your lovemaking?"

Meskhenet covered her face within her hands, embarrassed and angered at the same time. Oh, how did Ra let people like these live? Sighing, Meskhenet turned to Bakura, "Could you give me just a moment with…with _her,_ please," she said, fidgeting her hands. Bakura was silent, looking rather disappointed, but he gave her a quick peck on the lips before he left the study, closing the door behind him. Meskhenet sighed again before she marched over Gamilla who was safely behind the open window. "What do you want?"

"If you're going to get pregnant, Meskhenet, at least choose someone who you're not ashamed to introduce to your friends," Gamilla said.

Meskhenet laughed hollowly, "I'm not ashamed of anything. And last I recalled, I didn't have many friends here left, least of all you."

Gamilla rolled he eyes, "I'm here to rekindle our relationship."

Meskhenet doubted that. "I have Bakura and my flock, my father, Maat's still my friend. I don't need your friendship."

"Your flock can't talk to you. Maat is away in Thebes, your father is—well, he's your father," what was that supposed to mean? Meskhenet bit her lip, waiting for Gamilla to get to the point, "And Bak—whatever his name is, is just a man or worse, a thief. They take things, it's what they do. When he's done with you," she looked Meskhenet over, "If he hasn't gotten it yet, when he does, you're just that treasure he's going to sell away and move onto the next piece of jewel. Assumingly he's still here because you haven't given everything to him…yet."

"Wha…" Meskhenet had no words for Gamilla. She had a flaming ball of fire for her, but she had to restrain herself from blasting away. "Bakura's not like that…he's…kin—oh! What is it you want?!"

Gamilla stared at Meskhenet in the eye, looking like she had some more things to say. "Hasana just got married. She's moving away in a few weeks. Tomorrow at noon, she's having a banquet and has invited all her _friends_ but as kind as I am, I wanted to extend this invitation to you." Meskhenet's first reaction was to say no and run off to where Bakura was. She didn't want him meeting her old 'friends', more for the fact she didn't want to hear them badmouth of what he was and how much she was making a mistake. Zaim already had that covered. "You've never had ill will towards Hasana so do everyone a favor and come over. Bring your lover too; I'm sure she'd like to know who you've been…hanging around with."

Meskhenet debated on going or not. Gamilla and her were on bad terms, the other girls were split because they chose sides to be on. Maat had stuck with her while Hasana, more from family relations than friendship, chose Gamilla. She never hated Hasana and she would really like to see the quiet girl off before she moved off to Thebes or Tanis or where. "Fine, but Bakura's not coming."

"Do what you want as long as you are there," Gamilla turned away, walking a few steps from the house before turning halfway to the redhead. "If he loves you, he'll change and get a real job."

"And if I love him…I wouldn't ask him to change."

"Hmm," and Gamilla walked away, leaving Meskhenet clenching her jaw.

 _She's not important._ Turning away from her window, she picked up the diadhank and went out of her study, walking solemnly to her room to hide the device there. Everything of Gamilla had been gone for three whole years, they avoided seeing each other, speaking and even thinking of each other and now just this one encounter, Gamilla was back in her life. The gods were cruel. She found her room door opened and saw Bakura looking at her dresses that he apparently unfolded. Her room was not like her father's, no bed, just sheets on the floor in the squared room with her clothes folded and stacked in the corner. Whatever tools she used were next to her clothes, organized neatly.

"What are you doing?" she asked, dropping to her knees and putting the diadhank down next to her shearing knives. He glanced at her, but not her face, she looked down at herself, trailing his gaze to her breasts which she instantly covered with her arms. She would've called him out to be a pervert, but she felt more self-conscious of being perceived flat chested by him. "Ahem, well, tomorrow I'm going to be busy at noon so feel free to do whatever."

He looked up at her eyes, folding her dress and dumping it into her pile, disorganizing her neatly setup. Frowning, she immediately went to work on fixing his mess. "I wasn't aware you had friends outside your sheep," he said somewhat mockingly.

"I do or rather did, most of the girls I know were married off. The ones still here, well, let's just say I don't exactly care for," she debated on whether she should talk to him about it or wait to speak with her father. "I used to be friends with Gamilla, but a rift grew between us and then an incident and then we weren't friends for three years."

"Not that you're story isn't interesting," him saying that meant that it wasn't interesting at all to him which automatically made the decision for her. She would wait till her father was home to speak with him. "But I much rather spend my time doing other things than hearing your past relationships."

She brushed her hair with her fingers as she looked down at her red hair. Bakura came over near her, placing a hand at her waist and lifting her chin to look at him as he leaned in and kissed her. As much as her heart screamed for this, her mind kept playing what Gamilla said about Bakura. _It isn't true._ Gamilla didn't know Bakura, but then Meskhenet remembered the other girl and wondered what happened to her.

Bakura fell over her, Ra, he was kind of heavy. His hands moved to her waist while she placed hers to his shoulders, lightly pushing him away, breaking their kiss. "What about the other girl?" she asked quietly, searching his eyes for an answer.

He rolled onto his back, off of her and looked up at the ceiling. "There wasn't another girl, Khenet. There never was," he laughed. She didn't really believe him as she narrowed her eyes at him and turned onto her side, staring at him. He smirked, "I told you she was an idiot."

"An idi—?" before she could finish though, he kissed her again, and she pounded his chest, offended to be called an idiot. She wanted to be mad at him, but deep down she was slightly relieved that there hadn't been another girl…so everything he told her was a lie? If he could lie about that, how much else was he lying about? _You're overthinking it…_ for now; she just wanted to let all her worries go. She stopped hitting him, sighing against their long kiss, letting his warmth envelope her.

He slid one hand down her hip to the back of her thigh, lifting her leg to his hip and deepening their kisses. She let out a moan, becoming embarrassed by the sudden sound that escaped her which seemed to make him slightly aggressive. He reached one hand to the side of her face, moving it over behind her head, gripping her hair slightly hard. Ra, she felt out of breath, but somehow really happy and warm and she didn't want it to end.

He broke away for them to catch their breath for a second. She placed her hand on his neck and the other on his arm, feeling his muscles as he leaned into to kiss her some more, more quick than before. He slipped his tongue through her lips, sending a warm chill down her spine while his hand rubbed her leg and the other gripping her hair tighter.

"What are you doing?!" came the shout of her master's angry voice. Out of instinct, she shoved Bakura away and rolled onto her back, looking over to the door to see Zaim glaring at them, hands on his hips. He was still wearing his traveler's cloak from the other day. He swore under his breath, throwing every expletive in the Egyptian tongue. She wondered where he had been and what happened to his creepy brother. "Stop frolicking with the thief! You have better things to do than spend time with a tramp." He grabbed her hand and yanked her to her feet.

Ignoring his comment, she asked while out of breath, "Where…have you been? Skylar's been, um…worried." she was trying to divert his attention away from Bakura and also herself too since she was highly disappointed that it seemed like everyone kept ruining her moment with him.

Zaim furrowed his brows in worry, looking guilty as he shifted his eyes to the floor, suddenly becoming quiet. Meskhenet panted, looking back at Bakura who got up onto his feet. Zaim jerked her arm painfully, pulling her to her doorway. "You have training, let's go!"

"Nakia…told me of who Ata is."

Zaim clenched his jaw and looked away. "I wish she hadn't…" he whispered, seemingly sad. She wondered what exactly happened to Ata, why had he resorted to dark magic, speaking of him, what happened to him? "Keep away from him and his followers. They are trouble…just trouble," he glanced at Bakura, lowering his brows and frowning, "As if he! So come on, we're training!" he pulled her before she could say or do anything. Being small compared to him, she was easily dragged away which reminded her of the last time she saw Bakura when they were children. She gave him a small wave before being completely dragged away.

* * *

The next day, Meskhenet was at the Nile with the sheep and her father, Zaim surprising absent, splashing around in the water while the sheep grazed and drank. Zaim had been really hard on her training yesterday and she knew it had to do with her being with Bakura. Ra, who knew how long Zaim was standing there, watching them, thinking about it now, it was embarrassing. It was like an older brother or mother watching while she was having an extremely intimate moment with her lover. By the time she had got home, she was wiped out. Bakura wasn't there much to her disappointment

 _"Lah laa lah, laaahh,"_ she sang to herself, drifting her feet in the water, hoping to see Bakura tonight. She subconsciously played with her magic, making the water swirl in multiple area like mini whirlpools. It didn't make the sheep happy, they bleated at her as if screaming for her to stop so they could drink. She placed her hands on her hips, "Fine!" she took to twirling in the water, watching her white kalasiris fan out around her, exposing her legs beneath.

Taymur sat at the banks of the Nile, keeping a lookout as if he was a dog on patrol. The two young rams were play fighting in front of Taymur while the ewes carelessly went about their busy business of devouring and conquering. Her father sat next to Taymur, the crook lying beside him as he watched his daughter dance in the water.

"It's almost noon, Mes, I think Hasana is expecting you to her house?" her father inquired as she stopped, her skirt falling back to her legs, getting soaked in the process. She frowned. Right, she was going to have to meet up with them.

"Oh, Father, I think I much rather spend my time here than with them," she sloshed through the water, petting the ewes on her way to the banks. Slipping her feet in her shoes, she came over to her father and sat next to him, not caring her dress got dirty.

"Or perhaps with Bakura?" he asked, snickering. She blushed and brought her knees over to her chest. "I trust you know what you're doing, Mes."

She looked at him. "What do you mean…?"

"You're both young, perhaps a bit reckless…maybe a little quick in making decisions," he said a little sternly. Oh, he was referring to a more…intimately physical relationship. It kind of hurt for her father to even talk to her about it. She wasn't stupid. As if reading her mind, he said, "It's the first time, Mes, that you're with a young man. Most of the young ladies are being married by arrangement."

"I know, Father," she said gloomily.

"I'm not doubting you," he laid a frail hand over her head. "I trust you, Mes."

She nodded and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She couldn't afford to be late to Hasana's lunch party or whatever it was otherwise she'd never hear the end of Gamilla's rant. "You sure you'll be alright? I can stick around if you'd like."

He chuckled, "Zaim will be joining me soon." He coughed a bit and she frowned. "I'm fine."

"You've been coughing a lot."

He sighed, "Mes, this is your chance to rekindle your friendship. I don't want you to miss your chance because of this old goat. I'm fine," he insisted, but she hesitated. Her father was so much more important to her than her old 'friends'. "Taymur will make sure I'm alright."

As if to emphasize, Taymur bleated, staring at her with his horizontal pupils. She didn't get a chance to protest anymore, someone grabbed her around her waist, startling her like a gazelle attacked by a lion. She shrieked and willed a flame into her hand, spinning around and about to throw it but she saw it was Bakura.

"Oh my Ra…you…you scared me!" she screamed while he laughed at her. She really wanted to throw the fire at him, but she resisted, extinguishing the flame and pushing him. "What are you doing here?!"

"Me?" he smirked at her like he didn't know what she was talking about. She shook her head as Bakura placed his hands on her shoulders. "Why, I'm coming with you to this feast that I was so rudely not invited to." She bit her lip, not wanting to tell him how he _was_ invited, but she didn't want to take him there.

"No," she said stubbornly. "I don't want you there."

Bakura dropped his smile, "Come, Khenet, it'll be fun," his tone sounded like he wasn't taking no for an answer. She looked to her father who was pretending not to notice them as he petted Taymur. "And after that," he whispered, leaning near her, "We could finish what we started yesterday."

Her heart throbbed at the thought. "Maybe…" she said, glancing down at her feet, "Maybe we should, um…slow down a bit?"

"Look, your master is coming," he grabbed her hand and pulled her away. "Yaqeen," he nodded to her father who smiled at him. Meskhenet looked over to see Zaim walking towards them, eyes on the ground, lost in thought. "Come on!"

"Mes, keep away from Ata!" her father called as Bakura was practically dragging her after him.

"I know!" she called to him, waving as they walked up the slope of the Nile bank. Her mind was torn between her worry for her father, her anger at Gamilla and her fear of their relationship. They all were swimming in her brain, making it feel muddled. Her heart felt like it was beating too fast that it was going to burst out of her chest. What was going to happen after Hasana's feast? If she said she didn't want to have sex with him was it bad? Wasn't it too soon? _Ahhhhh!_

She smacked into him when he stopped walking and turned to her. They were quite some distance from the Nile now out in the open sand with Mallawi in the distance of the horizon. The sun was high in the sky, indicating it was about noon.

"What is this about 'slowing down?'" he asked annoyed, gripping her hand tightly. "Is this about what that bitch said?"

"Wha—I don't know. Wait, don't call her that," she said, trying to remove her hand from his grip. When he didn't let go, she tried to use her other hand to pull away. "It's just…I don't know."

"Spit it out!"

"What if…things do get…you know, that far?" she asked, looking in the eye, feeling embarrassed now that she said it aloud. He didn't seem fazed by her question. "I mean, I like you…I love you and I don't want to do things that'll hurt you."

"You think if you say no, you'll hurt me?" hearing him say it sounded stupid, she wished she didn't say anything as she stopped resisting. He laughed, letting her hand go and wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they began to walk again. "We're not quite there yet, Khenet, you don't need to worry about it now. Just know that when we do, I won't force anything on you." _More like 'if' we do._ "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes…" she said as leaned her head on his shoulder. She was being stupid. Bakura wouldn't hurt her. How could she let Gamilla's words eat at her? Gamilla knew nothing. "I guess we could finish what we started afterwards."

"Well, that's more like it," he smiled at her as they walked onwards to Mallawi.

* * *

This whole chapter changed as I was editing it. It was originally the Ram, but that's been pushed back. I actually am going to go back and edit/expand some of the previous chapters since they weren't edited when I posted them :P. Anyhow, they've only been together two days and Meskhenet is thinking waaaayyy too ahead


	17. Chapter XVII: The Feast

Chapter XVII: The Feast

She wished she could say it was less than spectacular, but that wasn't the case at all. Hasana's house was a lot bigger than Meskhenet's with four bedrooms to accommodate her parents, her and the three younger brothers she had. Her house immediately led to a sitting room on either side the minute one walked in the door, narrowing to a short hallway where the four doors were stationed, the hall led to another large area with the right being the dining room where a long rectangular table was at with a red ornate rug underneath, on the opposite side of the dining table was the kitchen.

There were windows spread out through the house with one distinctive one being behind the dining table, shining the sun's light on the brought out food set on the table. Her house smelled so good! Spices were mixed in the air, cinnamon with a few others, thyme she thought she could smell too, there were plates of falafel, goose eggs, and lentils, different types of fish with fruits and vegetables and steak.

It seemed most of the girls were already seated when Meskhenet and Bakura arrived. Gamilla was there, head covered in a scarf over her white dress. She sat next to a girl with dark brown hair, slightly younger with amber eyes, wearing a light tan halter neckline kalasiris, the girl's name was Neith, one of Gamilla's closest friends. At the head of the table to the right was a young man wearing nothing but long white shendyt with his messy brown hair cut short. He was laughing and talking to Hasana, the host of their feast. Hasana was younger than Meskhenet by two years, the paternal cousin to Gamilla, with straight blonde hair except she had dazzling blue eyes, dressed in white with a collar over her neck and shoulders in gold and blue. Next to Gamilla and opposite to the man was a girl of taller statue than Meskhenet, dressed in all black with a niqab covering her face and a matching black scarf that covered her hair, only her dark brown eyes were exposed.

Bakura was looking around the house while Meskhenet took off her shoes, telling him to do the same. Suddenly, she felt very nervous for meeting all the others again. She had avoided them for three years, going out to the Nile with her flock instead. Oh, Ra, and Bakura was here too…what was everyone going to think? Probably that she was some whore since she was unmarried, not really courting either. She didn't like being with people, it made her feel icky inside.

"Are we going to stand here all day?" Bakura asked, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Huh, wha—oh…" she frowned, biting her lip. She looked at Bakura then shifted her gaze to the back of the house were all the chatter was about. "Don't…ask about Hasana."

"Who?" he asked raising an eyebrow as he looked at the girls, frowning.

"The blonde…not Gamilla, the other one, she can't talk," she whispered to him, leaning near his ear. Bakura glanced at her then at Hasana, he seemed to be deep in thought.

"Oh, Meskhenet," Gamilla said sounding honestly surprised. "I didn't actually expect you to come…and oh, look, you brought your lover." To Meskhenet's disappointment, everyone else at the table turned to them while Gamilla beckoned them over. She hesitated, but Bakura grabbed her elbow and pulled her along. "Tiahna isn't here yet so please take a seat," she gestured to the two seats in front of her next to Hasana. Bakura pulled out a chair for Meskhenet and took his seat next to the girl in the niqab.

Looking closer, Meskhenet recognized those eyes, "Mandisa?" she asked to the girl in black.

"Hello, Meskhenet, it's been quite a while," Mandisa greeted in a soothing voice. "I never imagined that Gamilla would invite you." She shifted her eyes to Bakura, "And who is your friend?"

"Bakura," he introduced, gesturing to himself with a dashing smile.

"He's her lover," Gamilla added.

"Is there a problem with that?" Bakura asked, glaring at her from across the table. Meskhenet placed a hand over her face, wishing he hadn't said that. Did he consider them lovers? It definitely wasn't the word she wanted to use.

"Of course not," Gamilla gave a fake smile. "Well, while we wait for Tiahna, I think we should properly introduce ourselves to the two young men that are here to join us."

Meskhenet twirled her hair in her fingers as she scanned around the table, slouching down in her seat while Neith and Mandisa looked at her. Hasana gave her a smile and wave. Bakura was staring at the food like a wild animal ready for the kill. "Well, I guess yo—"

Before she could even finish, Gamilla cut her off, "Let's start with you, Meskhenet since Jabari doesn't know you," she gestured to the young man at the head.

Meskhenet frowned, already wishing to leave this place. Meeting new people was fine, being with people she had issues with wasn't. She cleared her throat, "Well, it's nice to meet you," she said to Jabari, "And seeing you all again," she said untruthfully. "I…am Meskhenet of Beni Suef, daughter of Yaqeen. He's kind of like the shepherd here."

Jabari furrowed his brows, "Oh, you mean the old man with the limp?" he asked. Maybe it was supposed to be innocent, but she didn't like that. Frowning, she looked away from him, staring blankly at the window ahead of her and crossing her arms.

"Yes," she said flatly.

Gamilla glanced at Meskhenet, "Meskhenet here wants to be a court magician."

Jabari smiled, "Well, that's nice. Are you going to Thebes? I'm training to be a soldier there." Bakura gave him an amused look while Meskhenet bit the inside of her cheek, holding herself back from making a rude comment. "That's where Hasana and I are moving."

Neith was silent, staring at Meskhenet the whole time, occasionally glancing at Bakura. "Jabari's originally from Memphis," she said finally as if trying to impress Meskhenet. "Where exactly are you from, Bakura?"

"Kul Elna," he answered. Neith gave him a confused look like she didn't understand. "It's near the Valley of the Kings and Thebes. You might not have heard of it." Meskhenet did, but where? She racked her brain, where had she heard of that name before? _Kul Elna is…_ ugh, she couldn't figure it out. She'd ask him later about it.

"No, I haven't… I'm Neith of Mallawi, daughter of Odion the leatherworker. That's Hasana of Mallawi, daughter of a merchant, you've already Gamilla and the lady in black is Mandisa of Thebes, daughter of the tavern owner," Neith said, "And our special guest is Jabari of Thebes."

"Yes, I figured," Bakura said, "When can we eat?"

"Manners, sir," Gamilla said as the two glared at each other. "Tiahna should be coming soon."

"So what exactly does the ladies of the table wish to be?" Bakura asked, slowly spinning the plate in front of him. Despite him talking to them, Meskhenet saw that he was eying the dishes as if trying to gauge their value.

"Generally, women of our statuses don't get jobs if you didn't know," Gamilla responded. Neith nodded, Bakura frowned as if he didn't like the answer. "It's a slim chance Meskhenet would ever be a court magician, not to rain on your parade."

Meskhenet grumbled something about her _trying_ to be something, but she forced a smile. "I'd rather spend my time performing at a court than raising someone's child."

"I think you're well on your on the latter."

Meskhenet glared at her, biting down on her tongue to keep from her spitting out an insult. Bakura glanced at her before looking at Gamilla, "Khenet and I haven't got that far yet," maybe he was trying to be funny or honest, the comment made her embarrassed as she covered her face while the other girls looked at him in a mixture of amusement and disgust like they were somehow better than her.

Jabari coughed as Hasana placed a hand on Meskhenet's arm like she was trying to comfort her from his words. "What exactly do you do again?" Jabari asked, seemingly offended by the comment.

Bakura turned his head to Meskhenet. She sighed, straightening herself. Well, if the others were going to be making snarky comments then she and Bakura might as well have some fun too. Who cared what they thought? She gave Bakura a small smile as she grabbed his hand under the table before she looked at Jabari. "He's a thief," she said. Jabari scoffed like she had told a joke while Neith clenched her jaw tightly.

"Gamilla, may we speak privately?" Neith asked as she grabbed the blonde's arm and pulled her aside.

"Like stealing and taking things from others?" Jabari asked.

"That's generally what being a thief means," Meskhenet replied a little too rudely. She cleared her throat as Bakura began to help himself to the food, serving himself and Meskhenet. Mandisa sighed as Hasana looked rather uncomfortable. Meskhenet suddenly felt guilty for doing this to Hasana. "Bakura…"

"Tiahna is still not here yet," Mandisa said, more to Meskhenet than Bakura. It was like she expected Meskhenet to have a better control over Bakura like he was some dog.

Jabari was looking at Bakura wearily, holding a cup of wine. "Doesn't stealing break the tenth law of the forty-two commandments? You're not worried about that?" he asked, staring Bakura down who placed a grape in his mouth, looking unimpressed by Jabari's memorization of the law. It was true, it was breaking the law but it wasn't like Bakura had a choice. Life forced him into that.

"And it makes you any different because…?" Bakura shot back. "You're a soldier meaning you kill and nonetheless on behalf of the pharaoh. That's breaking the first commandment, right?"

"That's a different story," Jabari defended.

"Why? Because the pharaoh gave you the order?" he spat bitterly. "If someone gave me the order to steal, does it make it alright? Or is it so long as I'm following an authority figure, will my crimes be excused?"

"We kill and fight to protect Egypt. Those people—our enemies, they'll do the same. What we do is for the better good," Jabari defended. Bakura glared at him. Hasana excused herself just as Meskhenet was about to go and see what Neith and Gamilal were up to. Instead, she sat there when Hasana left, not sure which commandment to defend. Killing was once than stealing to her, but she always saw the forty-two commandments as guidelines more than rules.

Bakura slammed his fist down on the table, scaring Meskhenet and clattering the dishes on. "And if the pharaoh told you to kill innocent people?" he hissed dangerously low. Why would he suggest that? The pharaoh wasn't a tyrant. He wouldn't kill innocent people.

"He would never," Jabari said, glaring back at Bakura.

"Enough of this," Mandisa said to both the young men. "It's Hasana's last day here. Jabari, be a better host regardless of your guests manners. It's up to you now to make her happy and I expect no less," she turned to Meskhenet while Jabari looked down at his empty plate, ashamed. "And you, what do you think you're doing bringing him here and letting him run loose like a wild animal?"

"He's not my pet," Meskhenet said as she heard the door from behind them open. "I came here to see Hasana off, that's all. Gamilla said I could bring him."

"It might've been better had you not come," Mandisa glared at her. She realized that the older girl was right, she shouldn't have come. There weren't friends here, just strangers. The only friends she had were no longer here except for Bakura, he was her only friend now. She stood up, but just someone wrapped their arms around her from behind.

"Oh Ra! Meskhenet, it's been too long!" a cheery voice echoed through the room as Bakura and everyone else at the table looked up to see a light brown haired girl, beautiful with sparkling violet eyes. Her hair was long, slightly wavy and she wore a green dancer's outfit with a top that exposed her midriff and a long skirt, shimmering with fake gold. "Where have you been these past three years?" Before Meskhenet could even say anything, the girl let her go and ran over to give a hug to Mandisa. "Oh, never mind that. Where's Hasana?"

"Tiahna," Meskhenet said, giving a small smile. Tiahna was a bubbly girl who didn't hold ill will towards anyone. She was a little oblivious to many things, but her 'out there' personality was what made her charming, "It's good to see you again. I was just going to leave." She had hoped Bakura would either talk her out of it or agree, but he did neither and it annoyed her. Turning her gaze from the chattering girl, she saw that Bakura was checking Tiahna out. Looking at him exasperated, Meskhenet dropped her jaw before she bit her lip. _Oh, for the love of Ra…_

"Leaving?" Tiahna asked as she let Mandisa go, "But I just got here. Stay a while, Meskhenet!"

"No, I think we should go. Bakura," she placed a hand on his shoulder as he turned to her.

"I think we should stay," Bakura said with a smile, but she glared at him. Had he never seen a dancer before? He seemed to have some interest in Tiahna which annoyed her, but if she recalled Tiahna was courting someone else or was she already married?

Looking over to the brunette who greeted Jabari cheerily, she became sad. Of course, he'd be interested in Tiahna, she was prettier than all the girls, more than Meskhenet herself. She was taller with a curvier figure and a larger bust. She wasn't afraid of men or shy away from anyone…she was perfect. Looking down at herself, Meskhenet realized she was rather short despite both her parents being tall. Her breasts weren't that big either and she was more on the petite side, skinny too. Frowning, she moved her hand from his shoulder. She turned around and nearly ran straight into Neith who gave her a dirty look before maneuvering around her.

Hasana smiled at Meskhenet before she ran over to greet Tiahna while Gamilla came over with her arms crossed. "It hurts, right?" she asked in a tone that sounded angry, but Meskhenet got the feeling it wasn't directed at her. She stopped in front of the redhead, looking passed her at the table where everyone was now at. "When someone you like looks at another person." Meskhenet didn't say anything, not sure how to feel. Her heart ached a bit like someone had punctured a hole in it, letting the tear slowly peel away to cause more pain. "Makes you wonder why you have a heart…"

Meskhenet caught her stare and realized Gamilla was looking uncertainly at Tiahna who was laughing and telling some story to the others. Tiahna was married or courting…to a man Gamilla must've liked. "I'm sorry…" she muttered to the blonde who shifted her gaze to her.

"I don't need your pity," Gamilla replied snobbishly. "We're here anyways, let's just enjoy this as best we can." Grabbing her arm, Gamilla pulled her back to the table, but everyone, besides Neith, seemed to be focused on the brunette's story.

Tiahna clapped her hands, "Oh, I got some musicians to come by a little later to play for us."

"That sounds wonderful, thank you," Jabari smiled.

Tiahna looked at everyone's plates and saw that only Meskhenet's and Bakura's were full. She furrowed her brows, "I must've taken too long to get here. I'm sorry everyone. Let's eat!" she began to help Hasana serve everyone. Meskhenet didn't take her seat, but Gamilla made her way around the table to help. She saw that Mandisa was looking at her with a disapproving gaze. "Meskhenet, sit!"

Slowly, she took her seat again, trying her best to pay attention to Tiahna and the others, but she couldn't. Her mind kept coming to a stop at her relationship with Bakura and what he liked and might not have liked about her. She was rushing things and being paranoid, she just started this whole thing with him a few days ago and yet she couldn't help but worry. She was being ridiculous.

"Meskhenet, how did you and Bakura meet?" Tiahna asked, leaning over the table.

She blinked, smiling a bit. "Um…you can ask Bakura, I'm sure he'd be happy to tell _you_."

Bakura gave her a look while he sipped his drink. "You've been quiet all this time. You should tell it," he said which made her drop her smile.

"I think _everyone_ would love to get to know you more so tell the story."

"Well, I assumed because they were _your_ friends, you wanted to tell it."

Tiahna seemed a little nervous as she laughed a bit, "Well…if it's too embarrassing or persona—"

"It's not," the two of them said in unison.

Meskhenet glared at Bakura for no reason at all. Ugh, she rubbed her head. She was letting her bitterness and sadness against him and Tiahna and everyone get to her. She had to convince herself, Bakura was with her…he must've liked something about her that wasn't limited to her body and Tiahna was happily courting or married to some man Gamilla liked. Clearing her throat, she began to speak, "Well…we first officially met when we were children."

"How romantic," Gamilla said sarcastically, playing with her food. Hasana and Tiahna seemed interested in the story, but Mandisa, Neith and Gamilla seemed uninterested but politely listened while Jabari seemed lost in thought.

"I stole her horse," Bakura added.

"Yes, he stole one of our horses and we—"

"Got lost and captured by slave traders bu—"

"We were at Mn Nefer and then there was a run i—" if he wanted to tell the story then he should've just told it instead of just cutting her off. She cleared her throat while he kept his eyes on her.

"With a crazy cannibal magician," he smiled at her like he thought it was funny. "We traveled with a caravan for a bit. Thanks to her, I got thrown into prison at the age of ten and then fast forward five years, here we are." His words struck her like a knife; did he really blame her for that? She didn't want him to go to prison, it was Zaim's fault.

"Oh…" Tiahna seemed a little uneasy at the story, but she tried to keep a smile on her face. "That seems like…quite an adventure." Hasana gave a little applaud before she turned to her husband and nudged him.

"And your father is alright with you being with the boy who stole your horse?" Mandisa asked.

"He doesn't blame me," Bakura said for her.

But she wondered if Bakura blamed her. She slowly ate her food as whatever else conversation at the table went on. She ate only a little bit before Mandisa and Hasana cleared the table and the musicians came. She wasn't quite sure what happened after that, but a man came over too with the musicians, Tiahna's lover or husband or whoever as she was giggling and laughing with him. They kissed and the music played. She danced and some of the other girls too in the living room, but Meskhenet still sat at the table with Jabari and Bakura who were still drinking.

"You're not going to join them?" Jabari asked to her

"I don't dance…" she whispered, lying. Bakura seemed disappointed as he turned in his chair to watch the others, or rather Tiahna, dance. Oh, the truth was that she did dance, just not in front of people. That was reserved for her when she was alone, away from people. She wasn't confident in herself to sing or dance in front of others, she only started dancing when Hakim had left to keep herself busy when she was alone because there was no one to speak to, but with everyone else there, she just became a stiff tree, finding no reason to dance since she could just talk.

Hasana came over and pulled Jabari to his feet and into the living room, leaving Bakura and Meskhenet at the table, but neither of them said anything to each other for a while. She glanced at him, wondering if she should ask him of what he liked about her. "Bakura…" she said in a low voice. He turned to her, drinking. She felt stupid asking, she couldn't get the words out and in the end she gave him a smile. "I'm going outside for some fresh air. You should join them." Not waiting for his response, she stood up and sped walked out of the house, closing the door behind her, sighing and leaning back. She could still hear the music from outside.

 _You're being…stupid. He was just looking at her…_ she looked down at her breasts, frowning as she felt her curves. She wished she felt jealous and not so much self-conscious; at least she could've been mad at Bakura and not ashamed of her body. Oh, what was she thinking? Placing her hands over her face, she slid down the door slightly but then realized she no longer heard music. Everything was silent.

She moved her hands away and looked around the neighborhood to realize everyone was frozen in place. _What?_ She turned to the door, but then heard sand crunching under someone's shoes. Slowly turning her head, she saw that it was Ata behind her. He wore the same hooded robe from before, but unlike before his hood was down and to her surprise he looked identical to Zaim except his hair was longer, slightly messier too. Had it not been for his eyes though, she wouldn't have known the difference. _Oh no…_ Zaim, Nakia and her father warned her of him and his presence alone frightened her.

"We meet again," he smiled at her. The same chilling smile from earlier, she pursed her lips and reached for the door's knob. "Don't be frightened."

"I know who you are…" she said in a low voice, gulping her saliva as her heart beat fast in fear. She didn't want to be here, she shouldn't have left the house. "Nakia told me."

For a moment, he frowned, "I wished they had mentioned me earlier…but I guess not."

"What do you want? Zaim isn't here…"

"I'm not here for Zaim," he smiled and took a step closer. She leaned more into the door, as if seeing her fear, he stopped. "I merely want to talk."

"Well…I-I don't want to. I don't want anything to do with you so just…go! Leave me alone!" she said, her hand finding the knob, but she her to retract her hand from the immense heat that radiated off of it. She shook her throbbing hand and clenched it into a fist. "Go away!"

"I don't know what they told you," he seemed sad, "I'm not a threat." His words seemed so sad, it was almost like he was a hurt animal and that made Meskhenet feel bad for judging him based on the words of others. Something in her mind tugged at her, telling her it was alright…that she could trust him. No, that couldn't be right…he must've been using some magic on her. She tried to think of some counter spell, but without knowing what magic he was using she couldn't think of any. "You know…I know Roheesa."

She froze and looked him in the eye, "My…mother?"

"Yes," he smiled, "She was so kind and beautiful. I always thought of her like an older sister…a second mother at times too. Zaim never told you this?"

"He doesn't speak much of his past," she found herself saying, "He…only mentions how my father hired him to train me in magic."

Ata chuckled, closing his eyes. "Leave it to Zaim to always be hush about everything. He's ashamed of a lot of things, me included. We used to be so close, but then we were torn apart. I think it's like your mother too, we were all close, Nakia, Roheesa, Zaim and I but she left."

"W-why did she leave?"

Ata opened his eyes, looking down at the sand at his feet. He was silent for a long time but then he looked her in the eye, and she no longer felt control over her mind or body like she was frozen in place, forced to be with him out here in the open where no one could help her. "Love," he said bitterly in a low voice, "She gave us all up for love…for your father. Doesn't matter now, does it? You see where that led her." Anger filled her, it wasn't her father fault that her mother was dead—it was hers. Her heart ached as she thought of her beautiful mother. "That's what troubles you now, yes?" He asked, but she remained silent, "Love?"

She wasn't going to answer that so he continued on, "A girl your age must be having those feelings now, yes? Roheesa was about your age when she met your father." He looked passed her at the door, "Is there a man perhaps you have feelings for?"

"You've…been watching me…" she said, her skin crawling in chills. How did he know about her troubles? What did he want with her?

"Call it intuition," he smiled, "I can help you."

"I don't want your help."

"Don't lock me out without knowing me," he walked over to her which sent her heart freezing in place. She looked up at him, fear taking its grip around her as she held her breath afraid if she breathed it might be her last. "Here," he took her hand in his cold ones and placed a small red tiny bottle in it. "This can certainly help you." And then he moved away from her, giving her a gentle smile that she could've swore it was fake.

She looked at the small bottle; it shimmered in the light and reflected her image, inside she could see some sort of liquid inside. "W—what is this?" she asked, thinking it was poison or maybe some weird concoction that could bring people back from the dead as she looked back at him. She didn't want anything to do with black magic.

Ata was already walking away. "It's a love potion," he called back to her. He stopped a good distance away, turning to look at her. "If you give it to him, he'll be yours for sure and no one will ever get in your way. Just slip it into his drink and make sure you're the first person he sees."

Looking down at the bottle, she dropped her jaw open. A love potion?! She wasn't going to use a love potion on Bakura…then she wouldn't have earned his love, it wouldn't be real. Sure, he'd only have eyes for her and that wouldn't be bad, right? Oh, she was confused. No, no, Ata was trouble, whatever he wanted was bad news. And yet, she couldn't help but feel bad for him, if only slightly.

The music and noises resumed and then suddenly the door behind her opened and she ended up falling onto her back, looking up at Gamilla who was glaring down at her. She gave the blonde a nervous smile before she sat up, looking around for Ata but he was no longer in sight. Gamillia cleared her throat, "What are you doing? Get back in here," Gamilla said impatiently.

She hesitated, clutching the bottle in her hand as got to her feet and Gamilla pulled her inside. The music was still being played with Mandisa and Hasana dancing together while Jabari played the instruments with the musicians. Bakura was talking with Tiahna who looked thrilled and Neith who looked uninterested. Her heart sank low at the sight of him speaking with Tiahna and her mind ran to the love potion. _No…you don't need it…_

Gamilla looked at Meskhenet and rolled her eyes, "Get him some wine and then maybe you can get a room at the nearby inn."

"What?" she asked, but Gamilla shoved her towards the dining table where some cups and a wine bottle was laid out. Gamilla took off to dance with Hasana and Mandisa. Meskhenet looked back at Bakura then at the love potion. Ata was trouble, nothing good could come from this potion…but what if it was true? What if it really worked? Then she wouldn't ever have to worry about Bakura looking at Tiahna or anyone else. He'd be hers…but wasn't he hers already? From the way he seemed to be so interested in Tiahna, it didn't seem so. She picked up two cups from the table, pouring wine into them both and then looking down at the bottle that she held. Oh, the answer should have been clear and yet she wanted him to herself, not having to worry whether he liked someone else.

Against her better judgment, she opened the bottle and poured the pink liquid into the wine. It turned the wine into a glowing pool of rose colored liquid with a rippling heart that became still then the color of the wine turned back to its usual dark color. She instantly regretted her decision as she stared at her reflection in the fruity liquid; horrified of why she had even did such a stupid act.

A hand came over and picked up the cup she had poured the love potion in. Turning around frantically, she saw that it was Bakura. "No!" she said as she reached over to grab the cup that he brought over to his lips. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "T—that's mine!"

"So?" he asked annoyed.

"I-I already drank from that…"

"Your point?" he asked, "We kissed, Khenet. It's practically the same thing. We even shared food with each other."

"Give it back!" she tried to take the cup away from him, not wanting him to drink the love potion now that she regretted it, but he turned away from her. To her horror, he downed the whole cup in one gulp, leaving her shocked.

* * *

Oh, Meskhenet, why? Being with other people is just bringing the worse out of Meskhenet. Some party, huh?


	18. Chapter XVIII: The Love Potion

Chapter XVIII: The Love Potion

"Bakura!" she snatched the cup away from him and looked inside. Nothing, there was nothing left in the cup! He had drunk everything including the love potion that she did not want to give him. He frowned at her before he moved over to get the other cup; she grabbed his hand and looked him over, bringing her face close to his. He didn't seem strange, nothing was happening; if anything he seemed completely normal. Was it all a hoax? Did Ata lie? She blinked at him, unable to shake the feeling that maybe in a couple more seconds something was going to happen, but as each second passed nothing did.

He smirked at her, "Well, Khenet, if you wanted a kiss," he cupped her face in his hands and gave her a long kiss. Despite her heart beating faster than normal, she couldn't help but wonder if this was the effect of the love potion.

Tiahna came over to them, giggling. "Oh, you two lovers are a little too eager for some time alone," she said as Bakura pulled away and looked at her. No, the love potion didn't work; he was still checking her out which made Meskhenet slightly disappointed. "Come, Meskhenet, dance with us!" Tiahna tried to grab her hand and pull her to the living room, but Meskhenet held her ground.

"Um," she glanced at Bakura who caught her stare. He gave her a grin as if urging her to dance. "One moment, Tiahna…" she slipped her hand out of the brunette's who merely laughed and went back to dance to the beat of the music. She bit her lip as she touched Bakura's forehead, "Y—you're alright? You feel different? Strange, anything?"

"Are you asking if I'm drunk?" he asked vexed. "I didn't drink that much. Now why don't you go and dance?"

"I think I'm going to leave," she said a bit hesitant, rubbing her arm. He frowned at her as he took her hand in his, tugging on her arm a bit. He moved closer to her, his face mere inches from hers, despite the loud beating of her heart, she couldn't focus on him. Why didn't the potion work? _Why am I here?_ Her eyes trailed to where Tiahna was. _He likes her better…_ moving away, she forced a smile. "Um, you can stick around and tell me about it later. Maybe my father needs help or… Master Zaim wants…" sighing, she tried to remove her hand from his, but he held onto her closely.

"Khenet," he looked back at the others who were all distracted. He moved his hand up to her elbow, gripping it tightly as he went into one of the rooms, dragging her with him and then gently closing the door and locking it.

"What are you doing?" she asked, too tired and sad to really actually care. She reached to get the lock undone, but he grabbed her hand and shoved her down onto the bed that happened to be in the room. He climbed over her, preventing her from getting up. "Bakura, what are you doing?"

"Well, you seemed down," he said in a low voice as he caressed her face, brushing his nose on her nose. She laughed a bit, though she barely felt happy. Kissing her or doing any of this wasn't going to help her, she felt guilty for the potion and for the fact she couldn't be as pretty as Tiahna.

"Get off…"

He stopped, pulling away a little. He searched her eyes, but she paid him little mind. He moved off her, grabbing her arms to pull her into a sitting a position, after a short moment of silence, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest, enveloping her in his warmth. It took her a while to realize what he was trying to do; he was trying to comfort her despite not knowing what was wrong. Breathing in his smell, she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thank you…" she said, giving him a small smile. She still wanted to leave though and either find Ata and ask him about the potion or just find a book on it. Pulling away from him, she rested her head on his shoulder, kissing him gently on the neck. When she made to move away from him, he hugged her from behind. It occurred to her that she probably should tell him that she put a love potion in one of the drinks; it might have done better to just tell him now then waiting until someone else told him. "Bakura, I—"

A loud knock came at the door, "Meskhenet, get out of there! I swear to Ra, if I find you and your lover doing anything in my cousin's house, I wil—" Gamilla shouted from outside, rapidly banging on the door.

Meskhenet rolled her eyes; scooting off the bed and helping Bakura up before she unlocked the door and swung it open. "Nothing happened," she muttered, walking passed the angry blonde who had her hands on her hips. Bakura gave Gamilla a dashing smile, jingling something in his hands. Gamilla furrowed her brows, looking at what was in his hand. "Well, it was… _pleasant_ to see you all again, but I thin—"

"We're leaving," Bakura announced, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the door. She caught what was in his hand which she realized was some jewelry that she recognized used to be Gamilla's, the blonde probably had given it to Hasana as a wedding present or something, but Bakura had taken from somewhere, the room perhaps.

"Give that back!" Gamilla shouted, but made no attempt to follow them as they crossed the room. Tiahna looked a little disappointed, but Meskhenet didn't care about her and her perfect figure. Jabari jumped to his feet, of course, the good soldier wound have to stop them, shouting protests only for Bakura to give them a mocking salute. "Meskhenet!"

Bakura looked at Gamilla with a mocking smile, "You know, just because you're not woman enough for a man, doesn't mean you get to rain on everyone else's parade. So do everyone a favor and stop being such a bitch." Gamilla's jaw tightened at his words and Meskhenet closed her eyes, she knew Bakura knew nothing about Gamilla, but his words struck a nerve and it wasn't the bitch part. She knew what was coming.

The room suddenly got quiet; Gamilla gave a hollow, bitter laugh. "So just because he's your lover it means you get to tell him everything."

"I didn't tell him anything," she replied as Bakura glanced at her and Gamilla. "Gamilla, I didn't start this so just stop."

"So I started this?" Gamilla asked angrily, her voice rising in anger. Tiahna tried to calm her down while Neith and Mandisa were looking at Meskhenet. Hasana stood, holding Jabari's arm while the musicians were waiting for some kind of order. "You're the one who started avoiding me!"

"Because you locked me up…" Meskhenet muttered quietly, her voice shaking, "And laughed at me."

"It was a stupid prank," Neith said in Gamilla's defense.

"I was scared!" Meskhenet shouted, balling her fists and shaking in anger. "I cried and you laughed at me! You thought it was funny? Well, what if I dumped you in a pit of scorpions and laughed at you!"

"Let's go," Bakura said to her, seemingly wanting to ease this tension.

"Give back the jewels," Jabari said as Gamilla was about to march over to them but Hasana and Neith stopped her. "It doesn't belong to you!"

" _Rih eazima,_ " Meskhenet chanted and a strong gust of wind flew through the house, kicking up sand and nearly blinding Jabari who blocked the sand with his arms, but by the time the wind died down, the two were long gone, running through the marketplace. She wasn't quite sure why she did that, perhaps it was because she was angry at them all; for everything they'd done. Whatever the reason, it made her break out into a laugh as she bent over, tugging Bakura back. She couldn't control herself, she was laughing hard and it made her stomach hurt. Something inside of her felt like a weight was lifted, maybe it was Gamilla's face or just the fact she was finally away from them, she didn't know.

Bakura reached over and grabbed her arms, straightening her up and holding her shoulders. He was beaming at her, she wasn't quite sure why, but it made her laugh even more. He placed the jewelry on her; it was a golden necklace with red jewels on it and some bracelets that he put on her right hand. "Now you look like a queen," he brushed her bangs and she blushed.

"I'm no queen," she said, removing the jewelry and placing it into his hand. "I don't want these. Either give it back or do what you want with it," somewhere inside of her, she thought he might give it to Tiahna and the thought alone put her in a bad mood again. She would put her 'friends' out of her mind, it was easy, she got used to it, but many things that happened back then hurt her. Feeling her chest ache and the need to cry, she took a step back with a fake smile. "I'm heading off to Master Zaim's."

"What's wrong with you?" he made to grab her wrist, but she moved away, laughing a bit.

"Nothing, I just feel like I wasted my time…I've got to go," and she sprinted off towards her house rather than Zaim's. She didn't look back and Bakura didn't follow after her. On her way to her house, she nearly smacked into Nakia who seemed worried. Dodging the older woman, she waved her and made up some excuse she didn't remember before she eventually found herself at home. Her father wasn't home as it was much too early so the place was rather quiet and lonely. She wished Bakura was here. Laughing hollowly to herself, she said, "You're overreacting, you emotional mess…"

She sighed to herself, frustrated from all her feelings as she trudged over to her study through the foyer of her house, making a sharp turn to the left and opening the door to the little library. Gazing at her window, she half hoped Bakura would be there but he wasn't. Rolling her eyes at herself, she went over to her shelves, desperately looking for a book on potions. Going down the neat order, she found books on all kinds of magic, counter spells and histories of magic and tombs. Did she have nothing on potions? Finally, she found a worn book that read 'alchemy'. She pulled it out and retreated to her room, sitting in a corner near her folded sheets.

The book contained much information on a variety of potions and even individual ingredients, but she paid them little mind trying to find the one potion she was looking for. Eventually, almost through the entire book she found the love potion. There was only a little information on it; it used some kind of ingredients from the ocean that she didn't know. "Aphrodisiac…?" she didn't know what that was, but there was a picture of some shell with the words oyster near it along with honey, a few other ingredients too. "Give to desired person and make sure you're the first person they see…." Yes, she did that, nothing happened, reading on she spotted the words, "Wait until the next day for affect?!" Oh no! Then that meant…it still would work? _Ammit!_ She flipped through the book for some counter potion, but the book ended with the rest of the pages gone.

"No, no!" she tossed the book aside and rummaged through her shelves for any other books, but there was nothing. _I'll have to find Ata or Master Zaim!_ She ran out of her house, desperately looking for Zaim or Ata, asking around town led her nowhere though. Unfortunately, going to Zaim's house did little good, he wasn't there so she decided to check where she left her father and the sheep, but when she went to the Nile, it was only her father and the sheep along with Time Wizard. Taken away from her worries when she spotted Time Wizard, she shouted, "Father!"

Startled, the old man turned to her before he quickly made Time Wizard disappear. She ran over to him, "Oh, Mes, I thought you were with your friends."

"Why was Time Wizard out?"

"I was merely conversing with my ka," he smiled, closing his eyes and chuckling. Conversing?! She was a little angry at him, he always told her that the ka was vulnerable and it shouldn't be used carelessly. What was he doing? He patted her head, "Where's Bakura?"

Oh! "Have you seen Master Zaim?" she asked, hoping he'd say yes.

"No," he replied, looking worried. "What's wrong?"

"I did something stupid! A—and I don't know how to fix it!"

"Maybe I can help?"

"Can Time Wizard reverse time?" she asked, a hope rising in her. Maybe she could go back in time and stop herself from taking the love potion from Ata.

Her father frowned, "That's a bit dangerous. I've never tried…"

"Oh! I'm doomed!"

"Yaqeen, why can't you try an—Meskhenet, what are you doing here?" Zaim's voice came from behind her father as he came over to them with his grey horse. He didn't look happy to see her, but oh, he was just the person she was looking for! She ran passed her father, nearly tripping on a bush as she jumped in front of Zaim. "Get out of my way."

"I need your help!"

"Well, it can wait. Yaqee—"

"No!" she grabbed his robes tightly, making him protest before he tried prying her off. "Look, I need a counter love potion or whatever! Now! Please, help me!" Zaim was glaring at her; it seemed to take a while for her words to settle it as suddenly he looked a bit confused. _Please, say you can help!_

"Love potion?" he scoffed at her, "Yaqeen, what is she talking about?" Her father merely shrugged as he walked closer to the Nile, petting some of the ewes while Taymur lazily watched them in what appeared to be amusement. "Did your friends put you up to this?" He waved it off, "There's something I need to talk about with your father."

"Zaim, speak with my daughter first," her father replied, even though it felt nice for him to say that, something about the way he said it made her feel like he was trying to avoid speaking with Zaim.

Her master scowled at her father. "No, she needs to hear this."

Glancing between her father and master, a dreadful feeling filling her as a pregnant pause crept in between the three. What was this about? She grew worried, biting her lip, "What am I supposed to hear?"

Zaim waited as if expecting her father to say something, but when he didn't, he angrily answered, "He doesn't want you becoming a court magician," those words hurt her like an arrow through her heart. It felt like her world was crumbling, shattering into pieces; she thought her father supported her. Hadn't he been the one to hire Zaim? No, Zaim must've been lying, but her father's silence bothered her.

"That—it's not true…" she said, looking to her father for confirmation, only for him to hang his head down, affirming what she couldn't believe.

"He hasn't reported to the Great Wife because he wants you to join her court as wield—"

"Zaim, that's enough," her father said, tapping his staff in the ground as if that was final. She slowly turned to her father, all her worries of the love potion and Gamilla and the others floated away, replaced by a shattering feeling of hopelessness and confusion. "Mes, we will talk later."

"Father…it's not true, right…?"

"Mes, we will tal—"

"But you said I could do it! You and Momma a—"

"Mes!" he almost shouted and she stepped back, bumping into Zaim. That was the first time he had raised his voice at her in years. It was the first time he looked angry since she was twelve. "Go home, I must talk with Zaim." Downhearted, she merely nodded, maneuvering around Zaim and leaving the two behind at the Nile. She felt like her heart was shaking in a hollow nest of thorns. What was wrong with her dream? Did he not support her anymore? Why? She couldn't think of any reasons so she trudged along towards town, twiddling her fingers and biting her lip

* * *

Peering over the wall of the arch near the prison, she made sure the coast was clear. No Bakura in sight, good. Some soldiers wandered around, greeting her as they passed but she tried to stay out of their way, in a disguise that consisted of a long robe with a brown sash and a matching brown scarf over her red hair so no one would recognize her. She decided to hang near the prisons since she figured Bakura wouldn't show up here since the last incident, but she couldn't hang over here forever. She needed to go to the market to get some supplies for her father and Zaim.

Last night was horrible, she cried herself to sleep and when she awoke, her father was gone, leaving her a note, apologizing and promising to talk later with a list of supplies he needed. He had also made her breakfast which she ate, alone. It was easy to ignore her friends, but the issue with her dream and father was very hard to ignore so she decided she'd focus all or most of her attention on Bakura who was still under the love potion and he was the only one she actually wanted to see right now, it made things difficult. She needed to find Ata since she figured she should go to the source of all this chaos besides, she didn't want to see Zaim right now.

"Are you waiting for someone?" a familiar voice asked. She turned around and saw just the person she wanted to see! Ata in black robes with a gold belt around his waist, he had a kind smile plastered on his face. With an expression like that, he really did look like Zaim which made her think that she barely saw Zaim _actually smile._

Apart of her wanted to get angry at him for tempting her into using the love potion, the other part wanted his help since right now she didn't know who to turn to. "Yes, I need your help," something about his smile changed, almost wickedly and it made her hit the corner wall where she stood. Maybe this wasn't a good idea, no, no, Bakura needed that counter potion! "The potion you gave me…"

"Did it work?" he asked, placing his hands behind him and leaning down towards her. His golden eyes glinting in the light, almost evilly, she was selling her soul to Ammit.

"No, I…um, I don't want him to love me under a spell," she said with a sigh.

Ata moved away from her, frowning. "Does it matter how love is obtained?"

"Yes!" she almost shouted. Love was important, if one was tricked into love than that wasn't real love and not even worth getting into. She wished she realized this earlier before slipping it into the drink. As much as she wanted to blame Ata, she knew it was her fault for her insecurities. She was going to fix this for sure. "I need the counter potion, now!"

"Unfortunately, the counter potion will take me about four days or week at the most," he replied. A week?! Was he lying just to make her suffer? Could she really trust him? "I'll get working on it as soon as possible."

"Like now," she said sternly. Ata merely gave her a smile and a small wave before he turned around and walked a corner, disappearing. She sighed, Ata wasn't trustworthy, Bakura was under a spell, Zaim was being difficult and her father crushed her dreams. Life was just so unfair. She wished she was a sheep; life would be easier that way.

Meskhenet sighed; she needed to get the supplies as soon as possible then find someplace to hide. She came out from behind the wall, looking behind her when she heard talking but it was only two soldiers going into the prison. Gingerly, she inched towards the marketplace before she sprinted right into the arms of someone. "I'm sorr—!" to her horror, it was Bakura. _No!_

He looked a little confused at her, but she noticed in his hands were blue lotuses. _Oh Ra…_ "Khenet, I've been looking everywhere for you," he said as she backed away from him, clutching the scarf around her head tightly. "These are for you." He shoved the blue lotuses in her arms.

"Oh…my favorite," she said, laughing a bit nervously. "Um, I have to go!" she made a dash passed him, but he placed an arm around her waist, pulling her into an embrace from behind. Wiggling in his grip, her heart pounded painfully in her chest as he placed his mouth near her ear, sending shivers down her body.

"You left in such a rush yesterday," he said in a whisper, "I thought that perhaps we could spend some time today together, alone."

"No!" she shouted too quickly as she squirmed free from his grasp, turning to face him and raising her hands up. "No, I— _ahem—_ think that's not a good idea."

Bakura shrugged, slipping his warm hand in hers. "Whatever you want," he said, smiling. "What do you want to do now?" The love potion really did take effect; Bakura wouldn't ask her what to do. He came and went as he pleased, forcing his way around and invading personal space, acting as if he was too busy for anything even though he probably was only as busy as she. "Where were you headed?"

"To the marketplace," she tried to slip her hand out of his, but he kept a tight grip on her. He pulled her along towards the marketplace, making sure to walk at the same pace as her. A foreboding feeling sank within her as they continued down the neighborhood. Something bad was going to come of this, she knew it. "I think I should go by myself."

"But I want to spend time with you, love," he replied and her heart fluttered at his words. _It's the potion talking, not him…_ but that couldn't stop her from feeling warmth spreading within her. Would it be bad for her to enjoy this just for the time being? He was all hers now… might as well make the best of it. Besides, it was the first time he had called her a term of endearment and it made her feel giddy. Frowning at herself, she decided to ignore the foreboding feeling and whatever possible thoughts that something bad would happen and decided to enjoy this moment. She might not get him to say that again.

She interlaced their fingers and leaned her body against his bare arm, hugging it close to her body as they passed some people who gave her an odd look. She paid them no mind as they went over to shops to get some paper, cloths and some ingredients. While passing by, Meskhenet stopped at a dress shop that had some dresses hanging on display. They were of fine materials, different colors that most people of her social status couldn't afford. There was one black dress, off-shouldered that exposed the chest area a bit, that caught her eye. She knew she couldn't afford such a dress, but she hoped maybe one day she could afford it.

Bakura looked at her questionably, she caught his gaze and smiled, "Nothing, let's go!" pulling him along, they headed to her house. Her hands were busy carrying the paper, the flowers he gave her and a basket of ingredients so she just walked beside him while he carried the fabric. He ended up shouldering it on his right shoulder and wrapping an arm around her waist, making her blush. They didn't really say anything which left her to hear her heart only which was thumping uncontrollably.

"Well, I guess you should head off to a tomb or something…" she muttered as she moved away from him, sliding the fabric off his shoulder and bundling it up in her arms.

He frowned, "I'd rather stay here with you." His words only made her feel brighter in the cheeks as she looked down. She was enjoying this too much, but she beamed at him before walking over to her door, getting it as she looked back and waited for him a bit. He smiled at her as he walked over, holding the door for her.

"Why, thank you," she said as she pranced into her house, heading over to her father's room to put the paper and fabric aside. It was dark and cold in there with his single bed looking so lonely. She placed the paper onto the table while folding up the fabric before she placed it down on the bed. Suddenly, she felt someone behind her, of course, she knew it was Bakura; he was the only person there.

She felt his hands on her shoulders. Slowly, she turned around, letting the flowers fall on the bed and giving him a nervous smile, knowing the fact she was enjoying this was wrong but she'd never had this much attention from anyone before and despite it making her heart squirm, it also made it beat rather erratically. He brushed her locks away from her, leaning in. Closing her eyes, she let him close the gap between them until their lips met; she felt warmth spreading inside of her and oh, she liked the feeling, and yet there was a part of her that felt hurt. Bakura pulled away to her disappointment, he let his hands fall from her shoulders just as she wrapped her arms around his neck, his hands fell on her waist and he pulled her closer to him, kissing her again this time more zealous. Eventually, he fell over her on the bed which caused them to breakaway for a moment, she laughed. He merely chuckled at her before kissing her again, one hand rubbed her hip while the other was traveling down the length of her leg.

His kissing got a little more intense to the point she felt like she couldn't breathe, but it arose a feeling inside of her that she wanted to let everything go. Breathing rather rapidly, she let her hands slide down his back while he moved from her lips to her neck, biting a little here and there. It made her wince a bit, but she let out a low moaning noise which made her blush because she thought she sounded ridiculous. He moved back to kissing her on the lips, he forced his tongue into her mouth. It sent a jolt of chills and pleasure down her body and yet somehow, it left her feeling slightly invaded, though she couldn't say she disliked it. His tongue was warm and wet and it was driving her crazy. Her body felt hot, and there was something else which she noticed a little while ago, it was him, she felt him through his shendyt. She just wanted to take off her clothes and get closer to him, get things done, to feel something greater between him and the bed—the bed!

Shoving him off, she sat upright. _Sacred Osiris, what was I doing?!_ She looked down at the bed, gripping the sheets in her fingers. Oh Ra, this was her father's bed. What was she thinking? Ammit, she stood up and brushed her dress, clearing her throat. Despite being hurt by her father, she wasn't going to spitefully have sex with Bakura on his bed. Bakura was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"We should…we should, not be doing this," she placed her hands on her temples, "Oh Ra, um, let's get out of here. I can't do that here—or-or…"

Bakura looked down at the bed as he lied down, crossing his arms behind his head. "But a bed would be better than a floor," he smirked at her, referring to her room.

"Ho…no, no, let's go," she reached over to grab one of his arms, but he didn't budge when she tried pulling. She ended up falling over him. He snaked his arms around her waist, bringing her close to him again.

"We can get an inn," he offered. Although it seemed tempting, she needed to refuse but she really didn't want to. Ugh, why was reason such a pain at times? He was under a spell that was that. It didn't matter how many times she told herself that, she wanted to do something crazy with him and an inn sounded like a splendid idea to her heart and body.

Sighing, she moved his arms off her waist, rolling to lie on her back. "Bakura, you're not you and as much as I'd really love that…I don't think it's a good idea."

"I'm not me?" he laughed and for a moment, he sounded like his real self. "Who else am I then?" She just gave him a sad smile. As if sensing her downheartedness, he nudged her arm, "Name one place you'd like to go and we'll go."

From the top of her head, she blurted, "Beni Suef." It was her home, the place she was born (kind of), it was where the last good memories she had of her family together before everything went wrong. It was also the first place she met Bakura. No matter how far she got or went, Beni Suef was where she belonged and she couldn't escape that. Maybe it was the same for Bakura; maybe Kul Elna was as important to him as Beni Suef was for her.

"Let's go," he said, getting to his feet and pulling her up by her arm. She laughed, there weren't really going, right? But before she could ask, he yanked her out of the room and out of the house, "Stay here, I'll go get my horse." And he took off before she could say anything. Sighing, she just stood there like an idiot, debating on whether she should be doing this or not. _Stop being so torn…oh! But it's wrong. I should be avoiding him, not enjoying this! ARGH!_ No, she couldn't avoid Bakura for a week, she liked his company, and she loved him. If the counter potion wasn't going to be made until a week or so than she would've to make sure Bakura was alright until then, until she could give him the potion. Yes, that was it. All she had to do was keep her head on straight, not have sex with him and not do anything else stupid. Things should be fine.

"Oh," but if she was going to Beni Suef, she should probably let her father know just so he wouldn't worry like last time. Frowning, she went into her house and left a note for her father of where she was going. Not before long, she heard the whinnying of a horse, when she came outside, Bakura jumped off his black stallion, coming over to her. "Are we really doing this?"

"Why not? If Beni Suef is where you want to go then we're going," when she didn't budge, he placed an arm around her waist and hoisted her up a bit before picking her up bridal style and walking over to his horse. Being like this made her blush, why couldn't Bakura be more like this? He helped her onto his horse, letting her legs dangle on the side as he got on her from behind, putting his arms around her waist to hold the reins. She stroked his horse's mane, it was so soft.

"He's adorable," she laughed as Bakura chuckled from behind her. "Does he have a name?"

"Kek," he replied. Kek, shadow, it fit his horse very much. Bakura nudged his black steed in the side and the horse turned before galloping out of the neighborhood, kicking up sand as it went. They ran through the marketplace causing people to shout and move out of the way, she apologized but was laughing through the whole ride out of town. The wind caused her scarf to fall at her shoulders, her red hair flowing behind her.

This seemed so familiar to her. Yes, that's right when they were children, they had rode Kanval together. Back then it had been different; they were strangers just trying to find their way back. Now, they were something more than friends, heading to a destination. Thinking like that made her happy; she leaned back against him, closing her eyes.

Unfortunately, getting to Beni Suef didn't take one day, at night they had to camp out near the Nile for Kek to drink. Meskhenet made a fire for them while Bakura let his horse graze near them before he came back to sit next to her. She was gazing up at the little twinkling stars in the distance within the dark sky. Without the sun, it was a lot cooler now with a soft, faint breeze blowing by. Despite having traveled some ways from Mallawi, the Nile practically looked the same. Being out here like this made her feel at peace, in silence with the person she loved.

Bakura placed a hand on her waist, dragging her closer to him until he made her sit between his legs then he wrapped his arms around her abdomen and leaned his head on her shoulder, pulling her scarf off her and kissing her neck softly. Her mind was elsewhere though, distracted from what Zaim told her.

"My father doesn't want me becoming a court magician," she told Bakura to no reply. "I thought he supported me…he never told me he wanted me to join the Queen's Court. I don't know what to do…" Bakura didn't reply at all and it annoyed her, if he was his real self he would have given her some advice or tell her not to care but this spellbound Bakura was way too into kissing and touching and ugh! Everything was so frustrating. "Bakura?"

"Hmm?" his kisses were getting a little vigorous; in fact he started to bite at her neck lightly, making her wince. She lightly jabbed her elbows at him trying to wiggle free. "Khenet, I want you…"

"No, we can't," she said a little annoyed. His hands stroked her stomach before one hand went towards her breasts. Her heart throbbed in fright as she grabbed his wrist to prevent him from touching her. "Bakur—!" she jumped when his other hand moved down to between her legs. Jabbing him in the side and jumping to her foot, she scurried over across the fire away from him who looked rather hurt by her actions, "Mother of Horus!"

"Why do you always stop me?" he asked irritated as he crossed over to her, but she held her arms over her breasts, closing her legs tightly together too. Back in the room, she had felt the urge to do something stupid but now it frightened her. This wasn't right. He wasn't himself; it wasn't how she wanted her first sexual experience to go. "Isn't this what you want? It's what I want." He reached over and grabbed her by the hip, bringing her close to him. She stiffened at his touch, it no longer felt familiar.

"Not like this," she said in a low voice, looking him in the eye, "I don't want you touching me….here or here," she placed a hand on her breasts and another on her pelvic area. "We can kiss a-and anything else…"

Bakura frowned, but didn't argue with her. "Whatever you want," he brushed her hair away from her face, planting a gentle kiss on her lips. "Let's sleep."

"I'm not tired," she said, moving away from him. She twirled her hair in her fingers and he watched her, it bothered her how he didn't input his own opinion. It was great having all the attention on her; it was not great to have him not be himself. "What do you think I should do, Bakura?"

"About?" he asked, putting his other hand on her waist and leaning his forehead against hers.

"My master, my father…my dreams, what am I to do? Rebel against my father? I don't want to disappoint him, I've disappointed him enough," she said and her heart squirmed in her chest.

"Live a little," Bakura replied, stroking her hair. "You're always trying to find ways to please others, trying to live under someone's control." He gripped her shoulders, "This is your life, enjoy it while you can. Don't think about tomorrow, live for today."

"There are consequences for every action," she replied, seeing his point but not understanding it. Yes, it did feel like she lived in someone's control, if not to disappoint her father, it was to please her master, if not to please him then it was to follow the hierarchy established by Egypt and the rules the gods had given them. There was a reason for everything and every reason had its action and reaction. "If we just live for today, what happens tomorrow?"

"You'll figure it out then," he smirked at her, caressing her face.

"How can you be so…free?" she asked, furrowing her brows at him. Bakura touched her neck with his hands and the warmth shivered down her body. Bakura merely shrugged, kissing her lightly. Resigning herself to trying to be a little more relaxed and free, kind of like him, she just went along kissing him until she was too tired to do so anymore and ended up falling asleep. In the morning, Bakura woke her up and they headed on their way to Beni Suef. The ride was long and hot and with Bakura so near her, she felt like she was being baked in an oven so much that she eventually passed out again and wasn't awoken until they were finally at Beni Suef.

Jumping off of Kek, Meskhenet took in a deep inhale of breath. It was fantastic! Beni Suef was beautiful and nostalgic, oh; it was just home to her! It wasn't really big and not as populated with people; it was an agricultural center with many of its people being of low class which was quite obvious by their clothes. The buildings were white or sandy colored with squared and rectangular buildings of houses and shops with many awnings of straw or wood, street vendors scattered around town, but the most noticeable thing of Beni Suef was the many farms, fences and beasts of burdens with lush green grass and trees towards the Nile and a barren desert where the commoners' burials were at, the graves of the deceased not worth or rich enough for their own tombs.

Coming here was the best thing that could happen! Meskhenet ran over to Bakura who dismounted Kek, throwing her arms around him and giving him a long kiss on the lips before she let him go and took off to prance around town. Some of the people there looked at her, either in amusement or in confusion. She wondered if anyone remembered her.

"Bakura, let's go to my old home or we can go to the tombs or we can check out the shops!" she was pointing around town, not caring that she probably looked like a fool. It had been five years since the last time she was here and now that she was here, nothing was going to bring her down. Whatever she left in Mallawi would stay there until she came back to deal with it, for now she was going to enjoy herself.

"Well," Bakura came over behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, "Why don't we get something to eat first." Right, they hadn't eaten since yesterday. Thinking about it now, her stomach was extremely empty and she'd really like to get something to drink too. He slipped his hand in hers and guided her towards a small restaurant at the corner of town.

From the ground, Meskhenet spotted a flying shadow of a bird, when she looked up she saw an odd looking bird coming down to perch itself on a straw awning. The bird was not like an ibis or falcon; it was long and thin with an orange neck and head, glossy black wings with white streaks that looked like they had been dipped in oil. The bird's shiny eyes stared at them, following them as they walked. She recognized it vaguely as a darter she thought it was called, but what was it doing here? It kind of gave her the creeps. She shook her head, gripping Bakura's hand tighter before she pulled him to the restaurant.

* * *

I was going to add whatever they're going to do in Beni Suef in this chapter, but I'll hold it off until the next one. So maybe it's a bit confusing in some areas, it'll probably be explained later or not so the 'incident' I think Meskhenet mentioned two chapters ago that she stopped being friends with Gamilla and the others was her being locked up somewhere, Meskhenet has claustrophobia which her friends laughed at her for. Gamilla being upset that Bakura said she wasn't 'woman enough for a man' will be explained later as well as why Meskhenet says she disappointed her father and why he was mad at her when she was twelve. The bird's an African darter by the way. It's a cool looking bird :3


	19. Chapter XIX: The Sarcophagus

Chapter XIX: The Sarcophagus

Meskhenet sat at a round table with two chairs, one where she sat at and the other across from her. She had her hands folded on her lap as she waited for Bakura to come back with their orders. The place was crowded with other customers, all seemingly travelers or at least most of them as they were dressed in traveler cloaks or extravagantly, something normally not seen in Beni Suef. Probably merchants or something like that, but Meskhenet didn't really care about the people, she was really hungry and a little nervous for no real reason. Well, there was a reason but she thought it was stupid. The chatter and muffled voices just made her feel a little awkward as she wrung a napkin in her hands, looking around.

Bakura came over, taking his seat across from her. "They'll bring out the orders," he said, looking her over, "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine…" she said a little awkwardly as she hunched her shoulders and bit her lip. "You know…um…"

"What?" he asked, clearly not seeing her problem, Ra, did he not get it? This was the first time they would actually be eating with each other besides snacking on fruit and what not. Well, they ate together as children so maybe this wasn't a big deal. But what if they had eating habits the other didn't like? "Khenet?"

"Huh? Oh…well, you know…this is the first time we're actually eating together with a real meal," she said, "And it's just a little overwhelming." He didn't say anything which was not comforting at all, "Say something, please?"

"I don't see the problem," he replied. She placed a hand to her face, right; she was probably just making a big deal out of nothing. This was fine, everything was fine. "It's just eating."

"Yes…but what if I eat like a pig or chew with my mouth open and it bothers you?" she said before realizing _he_ ate with his mouth open. Crossing her arms, she leaned back in her chair. The real problem was that she was worried of how he ate, but what did it matter? She wasn't going to stop loving him because of that, she hoped. No, she wasn't that shallow. Sighing, she shook her head, "I'm being ridiculous…"

"How does it feel to be back?" he asked suddenly which made her look at him.

She put her hands on her chest and smiled, "It feels nice…it's home to me, it makes me happy to be back."

"Doesn't this place have a lot of bad memories?"

Thinking about it, she shook her head and gave him a sad smile. True, bad things happened here, but a lot of the good did too. "Momma might have died here, I might've said my last goodbye to Hakim, but…I was born here, this is where I grew up, this is where we were all together once upon a time. This is where I met you," she looked at him, hoping for a reaction but there wasn't any. She wondered if it was because of the potion. "Even if there're bad memories, this is home." He was so silent, it bothered her. She called his name to no response so she lifted her leg and brushed it against his under the table. He looked up at her and she gave him a smile.

"I'm glad you're happy," he said, smiling but his words seemed so empty. Right, there wasn't love in him…he was under a spell, he was just acting on what? What he thought was love? It made her miserable, all the attention, all the concerns, it wasn't real. _What have I done?_

"Do you feel anything?" she asked quietly, looking down at her hands.

"I feel," he responded. "I feel for you. Being near you makes me happy, makes me…" he trailed off as he reached over the table and caressed her face. Despite his warmth and his words, she knew it was nothing and yet her heart still beat for this affection. "Khenet…I'd really like to finish what he started the other day, before Gamilla came."

"I would too," she responded without thinking. He flashed a charming smile and she knew she shouldn't have said that, "But not like this…" she removed his hand from her face and twirled a strand of hair in her fingers.

"Whenever you're ready," he said though sounding a bit disappointed. Their order finally came, a woman dressed in brown came and handed them each a plate of different foods along with another one. Hers was baked fish and lentils while his was steak and onions with the extra plate having a leg of pig she thought on it with some vegetables and bread. She thanked the server before taking a deep inhale of the food. Oh, it smelled so heavenly against her empty stomach. She wished there was some fruit though, oh well; it wouldn't be bad to do without any fruit for a day.

She was about to eat her food until a commotion in front of her stopped her from continuing. Staring in horror at the scene in front, she dropped her jaw before closing it, gaping like a fish out of water. By Ra, Bakura ate like a pig! She covered her face, looking around embarrassingly, no one seemed to care but why was he wolfing his food down like a wild animal? In no time was his food gone, but she hadn't touched her food at all and the mere thought of him like that made her feel a bit queasy. She handed him her bowl of lentils and sighed. How could such a handsome man have table manners worse than a dog?

"Is something wrong?" he asked with a mouth full of bread.

She smiled, "No, I'm fine." And she began to eat her fish.

When their meal was done, the two went outside to see what to do next. Bakura seemed quite satisfied with his food, but all the fish in her was making her sick. It was like the chunks of fish she ate turned into tiny little Nile perches and were swimming inside of her now. She should've ate something else with it, she never liked meat of any kind. Bakura took her hand and pulled her along somewhere, practically dragging her since he was going so fast but eventually she matched his pace and together they went to check out the shops at the vendors.

"You're table manners are atrocious," she told him at one point, but he didn't seem to hear her as he placed a fancy golden necklace around her. The merchant went on saying how well the green jewels complimented her red hair which made her embarrassed. They didn't take the neckline though; it seemed so expensive so instead they went to a clothing shop where they both checked out the clothes on sell for men and women. Bakura had a fine eye, that's for sure; he kept picking out nice clothing of exquisite beauty and design for her, vibrant in color and decorated in gold or fake jewels, alas though they were expensive too. She chose simpler outfits of single color, long lengths and little design.

One outfit in practically caught her eye, it was a dancer's outfit and she didn't know why it stood out to her so much, but she liked it. It was black, long sleeved with the midriff showed off, a long matching black skirt that flowed with a transparent layer at the back, engraved with blue and silver designs. It looked comfortable to her and definitely a lot better to dance in than her dresses. She didn't bother to tell Bakura, embarrassed at the fact it was a dancers outfit and because she didn't want him spending so much on her. Living as a farmer and shepherd, she learned how to spend her money wisely and frugally.

"Do you want anything?" Bakura asked after they had looked at all the dresses and she had denied him every one of them.

"Hmm," she thought about it, placing a hand on her chin, "An apple," she replied and he laughed at her. "Just an apple," she smiled and he placed an arm around her shoulder, leading her away from the clothing store and out to the marketplace. They walked for a bit until the street vendors selling fruit came in sight, Bakura let her go and went over to get her an apple. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a lonely looking squared shop with a wooden door carved with the image of Anubis on it. She recognized the place. "Bakura," she called to him and he looked back at her, she pointed to the shop, "I'll be in there." He nodded as she went over to the shop, opening the door to a smell of ink, paint and papyrus paper.

The shop was dark, lit only by the singular window at the side of the shop that had the sun blocked out by the store next door. There was a long counter blocking the customer's way to the back of the shop that led to another red through an archway, the rest of the shop had two statues of Anubis, guarding the doorway like sentries to the palace. At the walls, it was covered in shelves of scrolls or single sheeted paper, ink jars, small paint bottles and other trinkets that represented the dead or afterlife. At the counter was a feeble looking old man hunched over in robes of black, a set of white long hair and a bushy beard that made his face quite hard to see through. His beady brown eyes seemed like they closed and he looked just about ready to fall asleep.

Nothing changed here since the last time she came, hugging herself she stepped further towards the counter. She rapped on it lightly only for to startle the poor old man which she gave him a warm smile. He looked about him like he didn't know what was going on, but upon realizing he gave a sad sigh and looked at her. "Roheesa…?" he asked in a rasping voice, staring at her through his beady eyes.

Hearing her mother's name made her a little sad, "No, not Roheesa," she replied quietly.

The old man was silent for such a long time, she wondered if she needed to remind him who she was but he suddenly burst out in a laugh that led to him coughing. "Meskhenet!" he hobbled around the counter to come and stand in front of her. She was taller than him now, back when she was young she had been shorter than him and found him to be quite intimidating as she thought he had death written all over him. Seeing him now though, she just thought he was a sad old man, cursed with a job that was both wanted for the dead and yet fearful of the living. "My, you have grown. How are you?" he offered a hand to her and she took it just for him to pat it slowly with his bony hands.

"I've seen better days," she replied but saw the worry cross his features, quickly changing her answer, "I'm good."

He didn't seem convinced, "And Yaqeen? How is the old goat?"

"Retiring," she answered bitterly before placing a hand over her mouth, realizing what she said. Looking down at her feet, she pursed her lips, "He's better than the last time you saw him. A lot better, he can walk…no longer bedridden."

"That is such good news," he said, letting her hand go as he hobbled back behind the counter to pull up a short stool that was hidden behind the counter. He plopped himself down on it, stretching. "I never expected to see you here of all places. Told me there isn't another order you need…?"

"Oh no!" she laughed, "No. I don't need anything. I came here with my…" she pointed outside, falling short not sure what to call Bakura, "Friend," she concluded. "I just really needed to see my home."

"Something troubles you," he stated, smoothing out his desk from dust.

"Like I said…my father is retiring."

"From his duties of the palace? Odd, he's worked there since I was a young lad," he said, stroking his beard. She didn't believe that, he was older than her father, probably like a hundred or something. "You don't believe me?" he laughed, but she merely gave him a sheepish grin. "He was seventeen when he joined the Queen's Guards and I was a young thirty-two year old. Oh, the good days," he chuckled to himself as if remembering a pleasant memory.

Thinking about it now, Meskhenet realized she knew little of her father's life before marrying her mother. She couldn't quite figure out why, where did he come from? Who was his family? Was he even from Beni Suef? How did he come to join the Queen's Guards? From as long as she could remember, he had always told her and her brother stories of his time in the Queen's Guards, but never anything else…perhaps it would do her good to learn a little more about him.

"Did you know my father before he became a shepherd?" she asked, hoping the old man knew something.

He seemed lost in thought, "Hmm…not really, just what your mother told me. Oh, Roheesa," he chuckled, "She was always flittering around town, talking nonstop about Yaqueen. She was so proud of marrying a Queen's Guards; she made it a habit to tell everyone she knew. The way she talked about him told anyone just how much she loved him. I miss the lass a lot. She reminded me of my own daughter." Hearing that made her heart squirm at the memory of her mother, but always because of the very different choices she and her mother made. Both the same age when they fell in love, and yet she knew she would never be able to go around places, telling friends of what Bakura was. There wasn't anything to be proud of…he was a thief, she couldn't talk about that, people would think she was stupid or lecture her about how there were other men out there and about the commandments. "Hmm, you're about her age, are you married yet?"

"No," she answered quickly. The door to the shop opened and Bakura came in, two apples in hand, one he was eating and the other he offered to her without a word. "Ah…"

"A customer?" the old man asked.

"He's with me," Meskhenet replied. The old man gave a long hard stare at Bakura and she knew he was judging him silently which made her shift comfortably from where she stood.

"Where are you here?" Bakura asked, looking around the place.

"To see a person of the past," the old man responded with a voice of disapproval. "He is your friend?"

"Ye—"

"Lover," Bakura corrected, and she wanted to slap him for saying that. The old man squinted his eyes but they just looked like they were closed. He gave a long 'hmm'.

"Meskhenet, may I have a word with you in the back?" the old man asked. She wanted to refuse, but maybe she could explain herself or hear his reasons of why he didn't seem to approve of Bakura. He hobbled to the back, Meskhenet told Bakura to wait there as she jumped over the counter, following the old man. The back room was filled with crates of more scrolls and paper, ink and other assortments while sarcophaguses lied stacked in corners or stood upright against the walls, cracked open. A large dog of brown and white, pointed eared, lied asleep near the sarcophaguses.

"What is it?" she asked after a moment of silence. The old man turned to her, scratching his white hair with his bony hand.

"Do you know who that young man is?"

"Yes…"

"He's a thief," the old man grumbled, sounding so displeased. "He's stolen from here before especially near Beni Hasan and Minya, been arrested a couple of times too. He's been making a name for himself and it's not a good one." She rubbed her arm, forcing a smile. She didn't know whether she should play innocent or just come out, in the end she just sighed. "Maybe people can change for those they love, but you have to be careful of who you choose to spend your time with."

"Bakura isn't bad. I know he does…questionable things, bu—"

"…" the old man stroked his beard, "Did Nakia tell you anything?" Nakia? What did Nakia have anything to do with her or Bakura? "Most of the people around here are too young to know, but I know…I knew Roheesa for quite a while. Thieves are no good, Meskhenet. It's better you end things before he hurts you."

She bit the inside of her lip. Bakura wasn't bad and what about her mother and Nakia? If there was something he wanted to tell her, he should've just spilled it. She was becoming agitated with him, Bakura wouldn't hurt her…she opened her mouth to defend him, but the old man raised a hand to stop her.

"I don't want to hear it. You think you're in love. You think he's the world, but you need to start questioning yourself of whether you mean the same to him." From the front room, they heard the door open and someone started talking to Bakura. "I have a customer, excuse me." The old man tottered off, leaving her standing there in frustration.

She didn't _think_ she was in love, she _was_ in love with Bakura and Bakura wasn't any different, right? With all the doubt from the old man, Gamilla and Tiahna and Zaim, it was clouding her mind. She didn't know what to believe, everyone said Bakura wasn't good, he was just a thief. Who was she supposed to believe, herself or the many others? Didn't the vast majority outnumber the few which meant her and her father? But her father was always so wise in choice…he didn't think Bakura was bad. _What am I supposed to do?_ She walked over to one of the sarcophagus, absentmindedly stroking the golden and blue designs. She balled her hands into fists and lightly knocked at the lid, growing more and more agitated with everything. She leaned her head against the lid, cursing herself for falling in love.

She rolled onto her back, "Oh!" she ended up falling inside the sarcophagus with the lid closing on her. Everything was dark, suffocating…oh no! Her heart rate increased as she banged on the lid, it felt hot in there, so hot she was sweating. Her skin was crawling almost as if she was shivering and yet she was sweating like a horse, "Help!" she cried, kicking and pounding on the door. It felt like forever in there, but oh Ra, she couldn't breathe. She started gasping for air and shaking uncontrollably. She never understood why she got like this in tight places, it made her weird, it made her some freak, but she couldn't help it. They frightened her; the walls were closing in on her. Gripping at her sides like the way fear was gripping at her heart. She was going to die!

And then the lid opened and light spilled in, the old man and Bakura was there, looking at her weirdly. Her chest rose and fell rapidly while she struggled for some air, she blinked at them, but pushed passed them both and ran off crying, whatever worries and frustrations from before fading away as she dashed out the door and into the streets, sobbing. She crouched down onto the floor, hugging her knees as she struggled hard for air. Clutching her skirt and chest, it hurt so badly like something from the inside was trying to claw its way out. It ached so much; she just wanted to drown herself in sorrows.

"Khenet," Bakura's voice called her, but she was ashamed to look at him. She half expected him to laugh at her like her friends did years ago, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her up before looking her over. "Come on…" he pulled her along somewhere while she sniffled and sobbed, wiping her tears with the hands. They didn't talk as he took her to an inn where he rented a room for the two, he got only one bed but at this point she could've cared less. The room was small with only a single bed in the middle, a nightstand to the right and a single small window opposite of the door. There was a chest in the corner, but Meskhenet just crawled onto the bed, turning away from Bakura and curling herself in a ball.

She felt the bed raise and fall as he came over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what's wrong with me…" he didn't say anything as she took a shake inhale of breath. "I get like that when I'm in small closed places. When I'm not facing it, I think it's stupid and tell myself it's nothing but then when it happens…I can't control the fear, i-it just happens…"

"It's not your fault," he said. She turned to him, frowning. What would the real Bakura do? She didn't know, she just sat up and leaned over towards him, kissing him lightly on the lips to get her heart feeling something than fear but it didn't help. He wrapped his arms around her waist a little too eagerly just as she pulled away. He put his hand behind her head and brought her back over to kiss her again. She closed her eyes, trying to chase away the fear.

When he let her go, she leaned her head on his chest, "They laughed at me…and I couldn't take it. I was sick and tired of everyone leaving…of Gamilla's jealousy and that was the last straw. They thought it was funny but I didn't…"

"It's not," he told her before kissing her again. The doubts of everyone still lingered in the back of her mind, only comforted by the fact that Bakura couldn't hurt her or leave her because he was under a spell…but what would happen when she gave him the counter potion? Could she expect this to last? What reasons did Bakura give her to doubt him? Because he was a thief? _That's not good enough, being a thief doesn't mean anything…_ Sliding her hands over, she cupped his face and kissed him deeper before they both fell back onto the bed.

* * *

Opening her eyes, she was blinded by the light of the sun. _Another day…_ she turned around to find Bakura still asleep, behind him the nightstand held the letter that requested her to come back to Mallawi. Four days it had been since she and Bakura took off from Mallawi, she had spent most of the first day in bed with Bakura, struggling to force herself to escalate their relationship, but regardless of how many damn times her heart screamed for it, the doubts of her mind prevented her from going through with it. She had gotten close to it the second night, actually stripping off her dress while he was here, but she got scared after a second of being naked in front of him and ended up shoving him out the room. He didn't push her for it which she was glad for, but she knew he wanted it from the way he kept getting disappointed by her reluctance.

The other days, they spent wandering around town. Despite her really wishing to return to her old home, she was afraid to see the change and ended up not going there or to her mom's grave. She couldn't face her mother for the choices she made…falling in love with a thief, using a potion to make him love her, she had fallen from what her mother raised her to be. She decided she'd face her mother when she was worthy of it. The days in Beni Suef were a little frustrating, but blissful, away from the worries, away from Zaim…but then yesterday she had received a letter from Horus, Zaim's falcon, telling her to get back to Mallawi in the rudest way.

She reached a hand over and brushed his bangs, seemingly awakening him from his slumber. He smiled at her, "Hello," he said.

"Hello," she responded, blushing. "Do you think it's time to go home?"

He brought her closer to him, nuzzling his chin in her hair. "That's up to you." Even if it was her choice, she needed some advice or guidance. Ah, who cared? They'd return later. She closed her eyes and took in his scent then suddenly the door to the inn was greeted by loud banging. Who in the Nile?

"Meskhenet!" came the angry voice of Zaim. What? She jolted out of the bed and looked at the door in horror. How did he get here so fast? No, how did he even know where they were? Oh Ra! She rushed out of bed, fixing her hair and smoothing out the wrinkles from her dress before she opened the door.

Zaim was wearing a simple white hooded robe, his black hair visible from under the hood. He glared at her with a fire in his eyes that told her she was probably going to be dead before she reached Mallawi, but then his hazel eyes shifted to the room and his mouth fell open. _Ammit!_ She realized it must've looked so bad from his eyes, the single bed, the way her hair was messed up and the fact Bakura looked naked since he had no tunic on, the covers of the bed draped over him.

"No, Master! It's no—"

"Strumpet!" he cried, shoving her inside the room and slamming the door closed behind him. She flinched and he turned his head from her to Bakura then back at her. He placed a hand over his mouth in deep seated anger, "Whore, tramp…harlot! How could you?!"

"Nothing happened!" she shouted towards him, each of his words weren't true but they rang in her ears painfully.

"I thought we taught you better. I thought for Ammit's sake you actually had a brain in there!"

"No, I—"

"While you're father's worried sick over there, you're whoring yourself here?! Why can't you listen? Why can't you ever listen?" he roared, towering over her as she shrunk back. She couldn't handle this, not his anger, at times she could be brave and stand up against him, but being back here was like nothing changed. It was like he was the old Master Zaim, the one before he met Anya, the one who insulted her and yelled at her for every little thing. "You want to be a court magician or some common whore? Because I'm perfectly fine with dumping in at a brothel if that's what you really want."

"No!" she cried, stepping back.

"Leave her alone," Bakura said, getting out of bed and grabbing Zaim by the arm. Zaim shoved him away, summoning a fireball. Bakura protectively pulled Meskhenet back into his arms, leaving Zaim to rigidly twitch his fingers through the flames. "Nothing happened." Zaim threw out some curses under his breathe, he certainly didn't seem to be calming down.

"Nothing happened," Meskhenet echoed quietly. Zaim diminished the flame and turned around, rubbing his forehead before he punched the wall. She never listened, she scoffed. He never listened!

"How am I supposed to trust you? Your word isn't good enough," Zaim said in a menacing tone, lowly and in a hiss.

"He's under a love potion…he doesn't do anything unless I tell him to," Meskhenet said, looking away. "And I told him I wanted to wait…"

Zaim turned around, "You mentioned that earlier. Where did you get it?" She didn't answer, he walked over to her, but Bakura tightened his grip on her shoulders. "Who gave you it?!" He waited for a response, she couldn't answer though. She knew if she said Ata he would've just blown up even more, "Mes, please."

"Don't call me that!" she shouted, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. She knew she was stupid, for trusting Ata, for falling in love, for giving Bakura the potion. She just kept making bad choices. In the end, she was just using people to make her feel better, she trusted Ata because she wanted the potion, she wanted Bakura to love her because no one else did and she gave him the potion because of her insecurities. She really was like Zaim, the way he used to use her to vent his anger out, controlling other people…he was horrible…she was horrible.

She moved Bakura's hands off her and ran passed Zaim, out of the inn and into the streets. From the roof of a shop, she spotted the darter, eying her almost mockingly. Curse Zaim, curse everything! Why was she so confused? All she did was run, from her fears and insecurities, she wasn't brave. She was a coward. How could she even return to Beni Suef? The home of her mother, her beautiful mother and her brother, brave Hakim…

The darter lowly quacked, shimmying on the roof towards an alleyway as if demanding attention. Looking back, Zaim and Bakura hadn't followed her, probably arguing and hopefully not trying to kill each other. She wearily looked at the darter, slowly following it into the dark alleyway, looking back at the sunlit room. The darter flapped down and flied through, out of reflex she ran after the bird, making some turns this way and that until she ran straight into a man in a black hooded robe. He placed his hands, cold hands, on her shoulders to stop her from falling. She didn't need to look up to know who it was.

"What's wrong?" he asked concerned. She didn't want to answer him; she didn't want anything to do with him. "Did Zaim yell again?" She looked up at his gold eyes and he laughed a little, lighthearted and kind. How could Zaim say he was bad when Ata seemed so gentle…? But she remembered his smile and the way his hands felt. Stepping back out of his grasp, she held herself. "He really has a knack for that, doesn't he?"

"You came here for a reason," she said in a businesslike manner, clenching her jaw. "You have the counter potion?"

"We can have small talk, you know?" he reached to place a hand on her head, but she moved away.

She hated herself; the way she was becoming wasn't something she could be proud of. The first step she needed to do was fix Bakura and tell him everything then tell her father and Zaim the truth of her encounters with Ata and then…then she'd accept the role of Wielder of the Dagger. That's what she had to do. That's what she would do.

"The potion," she insisted. Ata frowned, reaching into his sleeve and producing a small blue bottle that glinted in the sun. He handed it to her without another word. "Thanks…"

"I hope this doesn't mean our relationship is over?" he inquired, his voice sending chills down her spine.

"There isn't any relationship," she said, turning away from him, frightened more than anything.

"But I know you more than anything," he said. "We're alike, me and you. You have fears you cannot understand, I have them too. I don't like being alone," he stretched out his arm and the darter flew onto it. "See? This is my companion when my friends aren't with me." She figured he must've meant his followers. "I get chills, sweaty…it's like I'm dying. I feel cold and it aches in here," he placed a hand to his chest. It bothered her the way he said those symptoms because it was like hers. "You're just like me."

She couldn't say anything. She was frightened he was telling the truth. She moved away, slipping passed through the turn in the alleyway, but his voice rang in her ears as he called to her. "We're family," he said. She couldn't listen anymore; she didn't want to be related to some freak. She ran off, out of the alleyway, looking back to make sure Ata didn't follow or his stupid darter. He didn't thankfully. Sighing, she clutched the bottle in her hands.

Walking back to the inn, she spotted Zaim at the vendors, asking for her. She came over to him, tugging his robe like a lost child. He turned to her, a look of relief crossing his features for a split second before it turned to anger once more. "Stop running all the da—"

"I know…" she said quietly and he instantly fell silent. "I'll come back with you. I just…need to do something first. Alone, please?" He said nothing as she walked away towards the inn where she assumed Bakura would be. She knocked the door and came in, seeing Bakura slipping his tunic on.

"Khenet," he came over to give her a kiss only for her to turn her head away.

"Bakura," she laughed softly, feeling her eyes well up with tears. _Stop crying…_ "I love you…maybe everyone is right and you're bad for me. I don't really care because I love you, maybe for my selfishness, maybe because we're soulmates. Whatever the reason, I love you. And I fell for the man who was himself, rude, brash and just…" a tear rolled down her cheek and he wiped it away, looking at her with concern. She shook her head, "Here, drink this please?" Handing him the vial, he took it and looked it over. "It'll make you feel better."

"You make me feel better," he said, trying to give her the potion back but she pushed it towards him.

"Please, just drink it…"

He was silent as he popped the lid off and chunked the contents down. She didn't know if the counter potion would take a day or not, but the way he dropped the bottle that shatter on the floor told her the effects must've been happening now. He groaned a bit, holding his hand as he hunched over, growling a bit. She reached over to touch him only for him to move away.

"Damn it," he grunted as he fell on the floor. "What…? Where are we?"

"Beni Suef," she responded, looking away.

"What happened?" he stood up, looking angry as he looked around. "I remember things…and yet I don't feel like they're mine. What happened to me?" he asked, grabbing her wrist tightly and pulling her near him.

"I gave you a love potion," she muttered quietly. He let her go, looking at her in disbelief and anger. "I-I got insecure with the other girls and the way you looked at her. I didn't want you looking at anyone so I…gave into my insecurities and slipped it into the wine at the party. I'm sorry…I ju—"

Bakura was silent as he placed a hand to his forehead, looking at the ground as if contemplating. She could feel his anger, it was his right. If he was mad at her, she understood, she should've trusted him and not gave into herself. He looked at her, glaring which made her feel like she wanted the spellbound one back, because he looked at her with love and affection. No, this way was better because he was real…he was genuine.

"Get out," he told her. She looked him in the eye, a little taken aback by his response. She knew he'd be angry, but she didn't understand his words. He wanted her to leave for a while, for good? What? "Leave," he told her coldly and she scoffed at herself. He turned away from her, going over to the window. She lingered in the room for a moment, "Damn it, get out!"

She scurried out, holding her chest. It hurt, aching badly as it thumped with something not of love or fear. Pain, loss, she didn't know. What did it matter? She screwed everything up. Of course, he didn't want to see her anymore. How could he trust her when she couldn't even trust him? She lost that. _Every action has its consequence._ Slowly, she trudged back outside where Zaim had bought some apples for them. He looked at her concerned, but she saw it as pity.

"Let's go home," she muttered quietly.

* * *

I wasn't really satisfied with the last chapter and I feel I rushed this one, but I was having so much trouble writing it. Originally, I had everything written but it skipped Bakura's and Meskhenet's relationship a lot, Ata kept dropping in and out and eventually just drops out so I am tweaking it to show a little more of their relationship and the relationship of Ata and Meskhenet. Oh, well, next chapter, Meskhenet will learn some things of the Akhet Dagger and maybe meet Set or Mahad again? Anyways, thanks for all the comments and favs and follows thus far! :3

Edit: I forgot to mention, I don't know if Ancient Egypt know about phobias so Meskhenet thinks she's weird for having an irrational fear of tight spaces. Ata has autophobia.


	20. Chapter XX: The Dagger

Chapter XX: The Dagger

Taymur led the ewes out to the Nile as if showing off to Meskhenet that he knew the way and didn't need her as she was being too slow, walking as if towards a funeral. Her shepherd crook in one hand while she gloomily wore a light tan hooded robe, some of the sheep bleated at her as if telling her to move it while they bumbled about, bypassing her.

Upon coming home, her father had grounded her so now Zaim had to watch her every movement but he often came late whenever she took the sheep out. Zaim was also not going to teach her magic for a while. It didn't matter anyways, not like she had anyone to hang out with or show off to. She hadn't seen Bakura in like a week or maybe less, she didn't know, she didn't care. It felt like Apep had eaten Ra and the world was going dark. Stepping onto the banks of the Nile, the sheep dispersed without waiting for an order. She walked close to the water, but didn't dare take a step inside as she watched the sheep graze and drink, Taymur proudly keeping watch like a dog.

So many thoughts were running through her mind, all bad, none good. Demoting and negative, she needed to get out of her own head but without the comfort of someone else it was hard. She paced around the Nile, stepping over patches of grass and dirt while surveying the sheep. What did she have to be mad for? Bakura had every right to break up with her; she broke his trust, lost herself. _Stupid…stupid, stupid, stupid!_ Angrily, she took her crook and beat a patch of grass until it was pummeled with dirt and stray green flying outwards, the wood of her crook digging into her rough hands before she started kicking the grass, "Argh!"

"I'd hate to be that patch," Zaim's voice came from behind her. She turned around, breathing hard as she smoothed her robe and clearing her throat. Zaim was wearing a white robe with a golden belt and a headpiece that covered his hair, in his hands was a cloth covering something underneath. "Here." He offered her the cloth, hesitantly she took it.

Looking at him, she removed the cloth and saw that it was the Akhet Dagger. The Dagger was golden in hilt and blade with the short blade curving a bit, the cross-guard attached with the rain-guard had a circular red gem embedded; cursive designs engraved on the cross-guard with the pommel nothing more but a clean, smooth square. This was her father's Dagger, the one passed down in the Queen's Guards to the next wielder, its powers unknown to her.

"I thought maybe you could try it out," Zaim said.

She looked at it, frowning. "How do you know…I'm the next wielder?"

"Pick it up," he nodded to the Dagger. Reluctantly, she grabbed the hilt and quirked an eyebrow, wondering if anything was supposed to happen. "See? You're worthy to wield it." Looking left and right, she put it down, still not sure what was the point of that. Zaim rolled up his sleeve and reached for the Dagger, picking it up but something odd happened, smoke began to rise from where he touched, the smell of burning flesh filling the air as he winced before dropping it and showing her his now blistered and burnt hand. She gasped as he retracted his hand. "That's what happens when one is not worthy to wield the Millennium or Akhet Items. They burn."

Furrowing her brows, she looked at the Dagger. "I-I don't want this," she tried to give it to him but he stepped back as if afraid he'd get burned again.

"Just use it," he told her. Even if he said that, she didn't know what to do. "I'll summon my ka and you can use the Dagger."

"What does it do?" she asked, "What am I supposed to do?"

"The Dagger is a prototype of the Millennium Items, it can be used to rip the ka from the body," he pointed at his chest, "If you use the Dagger on someone so make sure not to unless absolutely necessary. It can also communicate with other people's kas. Give me a moment." He turned away from her, closing his eyes and then suddenly a flame burst into a whirlwind of fire right in front of him. A large bird of different shades of red flew through the flames and into the sky. Its wings were like rocks on fire and it had long flaming feathers protruding out from its head. It was a magnificent phoenix called Volcanic Wings.

It took her breath away. It was so beautiful, red and fluid like fire and yet rigid and hard like rock. She knew that the image of such a ka would forever be burned within her memory. Fierce and powerful, it made her wish she had such an amazing ka. The phoenix screeched as Zaim reached a hand to stroke its dark beak. "Volcanic Wings," he announced as if she didn't know his ka's name.

"He's beautiful," she said mesmerized by the flames that danced on the bird's body. She wanted to touch him. "Why would I need to communicate with one's ka if I can simply talk to the master?"

"It's not that simple," he said, "Some kas are…independent, act as they have a mind of their own. There are also the kas in the Shrine of Wedju that you can talk to as well, those have no masters."

"So I can talk to a bunch of dead people's kas?" this was sounding less and less interesting to her. She didn't see the point in communicating with other people's kas, let alone dead ones.

Zaim sighed in frustration, placing his uninjured hand to the bridge of his nose. "Look, when you join the Queen's Guards, you'll have a shrine of your own, along with that, you'll have a variety of kas to choose from so you can protect the Queen and palace. With the Dagger you can bond more easily with your kas." Volcanic Wings ruffled its flaming rocky feathers, shaking its head. "Try to communicate with my ka."

Taymur trotted over to them, taking his stand next to Meskhenet, watching for her failure. She glanced at the ram before taking the Dagger into her hand, gripping it tightly. She didn't know how to use the Dagger, what was she supposed to do? Zaim said something to her but she no longer was listening. She concentrated on the item, forcing every thought away until she stood in a world of darkness, Zaim and Taymur no longer present. The Dagger glowed golden, hot in her hand, she was afraid it'd burn her the way it burned Zaim but rather than being burned, her body felt like it was being engulfed in warm light and suddenly in her mind she felt something, a presence. It was calming, soothing and somehow it felt protective.

 _"Meskhenet,"_ she didn't actually hear a voice, it was just a presence she couldn't describe but she felt it call her name.

 _Who is calling me?_ Her eyes turned to the one being that stayed present in the darkness, Volcanic Wings. It eyed her with a look of content and kindness, something not commonly found in Zaim.

 _"It is I,"_ the presence replied, _"Volcanic Wings."_

 _Hello, Volcanic Wings,_ she didn't really know what kind of conversation she was supposed to have with the ka, but somehow this was exciting to her and it got her mind off of her last troubles.

 _"You are human, you make mistakes. Do not fret so hard on the love you lost. Love can be gained or regained. You will have your soulmate as I have."_

 _You?_ She laughed; did Volcanic Wings consider Zaim's love its love? Maybe, Volcanic Wings was Zaim's ka after all. It was a portion of his soul which made her think; did that indirectly make Volcanic Wings married to Skylar's ka?

In her mind, she felt the bird chuckle as it ruffled its feathers once more _. "Yes, I am bonded to the ka of Skylar's. One day your ka will be joined to another as well."_ She found that hard to believe and as of now, she didn't care about that. Her ka had no form, she couldn't summon it. _"Please, look after my master. He may be difficult but he means the best."_

 _I'll try…_ and with that, Volcanic Wings flapped its large fiery wings, the pinions blazing through the darkness, lifting it off the ground before it flew away, disappearing from sight as if it never was there. Everything came back, the sounds of the sheep, the Nile's stream, Zaim and Taymur who was leaning against her legs as if hugging her. "Whoa…"

Zaim said nothing as he chanted a spell to heal his hand. He glanced at her, "Well?"

She didn't know what to say or how to say it; she didn't even know how she activated the power of the Dagger. She just concentrated on the item… "I had a brief conversation with your ka," she smiled, laughing lightly.

He smiled at her. "I have to return that to your father, but tonight we will discuss this. For now, get to shepherding your sheep."

"Right…"

Without practicing magic, her time with Zaim was less than eventful. She spent all of her time sulking in her thoughts or talking to Taymur which the ram seemed like he wanted nothing to do with her. _Rejected even by a sheep, great..._ When the day ended, she took her sheep back home, Zaim walking behind them all before entering her house while she shooed the sheep into the back, making sure they had enough water for the night before closing the fence on them and going into her house. Zaim called her over to her father's room where her father sat stroking his beard with Zaim standing in the corner. Meskhenet sat down on her knees, the Dagger in front of her, laid down on the floor.

"Mes, now that you've accepted this duty, you should know your life will be different from here on out," her father spoke. Although she accepted this, she felt more like she didn't have much of a choice. It's not like she had a future anyway. "You will be training to become a priestess to prepare for your role as one of the Queen's Guards."

"A priestess?" as much as she loved the gods, being a priestess was just…not for her. She didn't want to spend her time in a temple, attending to festivals for other people's joys. It felt more and more like she was surrendering to imprisonment with chains bounded around her to keep her from leaving.

Her father nodded, "Tomorrow I will take you with me to Thebes so you will meet your mentor,." Zaim was silent; she sighed and merely nodded, feeling hopeless in arguing or even trying to convince her father that this wasn't for her.

"Is this what you want?" she asked him, a small part of her hoping he'd say he wanted her happiness like he always did, but instead he said:

"Yes."

Whatever part of her that was intact broke. Bound by duty, she would do this for him, her last living relative as his last living relative. She would become something he could be proud of at the cost of her happiness and freedom. She forced a smile and scoffed, "Is there anything else you want of me?"

"I want to see you taken care of, Mes. I am old and broken; I fear I may not have a lot of time."

"Father, don't say that…" she placed a hand on his knee, feeling a sickening twist in her stomach. As much as she felt a little bitter to him, he was her father and she loved him. The thought of him leaving her too was frightening. She would do this to make him happy. She thought of Bakura and how he had made her feel happy too, who was she kidding? She had no future with him, he couldn't take care of her…she couldn't live with a thief, not the way her life was going. "Then you want me to marry?" she asked, erasing all thoughts of her fantasies of Bakura and her. "Father…if that's what you want then I will marry someone you choose."

Her father was silent, he coughed a bit. "Mes, do not rush this. Let us just take this one step at a time. I am not asking for you to end things with Bakura. Ahem, we will head to Thebes tomorrow." Right…Bakura…

She stood up, placing the Dagger at his bedside before leaning down to hug him and kiss him on the cheek before she left the room, not saying anything to Zaim. She went to her room and closed the door, leaning on it as she slid down to the floor, looking at her neat folded clothes. She removed her shoes and looked at them; they were a bit worn now that she had been using them. She wondered why she kept them, they were a constant reminder of Bakura and the blissful times she had with him. Her heart ached, crying for comfort, for healing but there wasn't anything she could do. Her chest tightened, making it hard to breathe and before she knew it, the tears rolled down the sides of her face. Love was pain. Gripping the shoes tightly in her hands, she flung them across the room, crying in her knees.

* * *

"You seem distracted," someone said from behind her, but she was distracted. Whoever spoke to her was nothing but a giant blur. She was leaning on a pillar at the hall where she had first seen the royal scribe and the prince with Zaim oh so long ago. The person lightly tapped her shoulder and she turned to them, trying to concentrate hard enough to see who it was but she didn't recognize the man who stood there. Garbed in white and gold, he wore a headpiece with a golden bat like symbol at his forehead, the white cloth covering his brown hair and the bluish gray eyes held recognition of her and yet she had none for him.

"Oh…I'm sorry, what?"

He chuckled, "You are Meskhenet, right? Master Zaim's apprentice," she tilted her head at him, furrowing her brows. Who was this? Why did he know that? If anything, he should've known her to be Yaqeen's daughter not Zaim's apprentice. Who in Thebes really knew Zaim besides the other magicians? "You do not recognize me." A glint at his chest caught her eye; she shifted her eyes to it and saw that it was a golden necklace of some sort, a ring around a triangle with an eye engraved onto it, five needles hanging on the ring. Hadn't she seen this somewhere before? The young man removed his headpiece to reveal long brown hair. "My name is Mahad," he tried.

 _Mahad? Oh!_ She laughed a little, biting her lip and flushing red. How could she forget the nice magician boy? "I'm sorry…for some reason I-Ra, sorry!"

He chuckled, "That's quite alright. What brings you back to the palace?" he asked, replacing his headpiece on his head. "I do not see your master around."

"Oh, I'm here with my father. I'm supposed to meet the priestess who is going to train me," she said, looking around. There wasn't anyone here besides her and him.

"You are training to become a priestess?" he asked, furrowing his brows, "If I recall you wanted to be a magician."

"Oh, yes…well that's done and over with," she laughed mockingly at herself. Seeing his confusion, she shut up. "I'm the next Wielder of the Akhet Dagger." He seemed genuinely surprised at that, but he seemed a little worried. "At least…that's what Master Zaim and my father says."

"I suppose it would have to be true then," he frowned, "Are you alright? You do not seem very enthusiastic about this prospect."

"Um, no, no…this is my duty as servant to the Pharaoh and as daughter of Yaqeen," she said, twisting her fingers within each other. "I was just having other issues and whatnot…"

"If I can be of assistance then please lay them on me," he smiled at her. "If you want that is. I do not wish to pry into your personal matters." _Wow, he's so nice._ He was the complete opposite of Bakura, offering to help, being kind and polite. Why couldn't she fall in love with a man like this? No, her heart had to go for a thief.

"Love problems," she answered honestly, somehow feeling safe to confide in Mahad. He didn't seem to have ulterior motives like Ata and he seemed quite easy to talk to. "I screwed up with the person I love…I was feeling insecure and I did something stupid." He looked at her with sympathy. "I lost myself…"

"Sometimes the best person we can be is we," he said with a smile. "Love yourself the way they love you and if they can't accept the you who you love then…perhaps it would be best to analyze your relationship, have a talk before taking actions that you might regret. Be open with them. A relationship works best without secrets."

She laughed. She wished she had this advice before everything went wrong, "Where were you when I needed you?" she laughed.

He laughed with her; she thought he had a nice laugh. "Would you like to walk with me?" he offered, gesturing to the left side of the hall. She nodded and together they started walking. "I wasn't aware you were accepting suitors, Master Zaim made it sound like you weren't interested in marriage." She slowly turned her head to him. What did Zaim talk to Mahad about?

"I wasn't aware he spoke of me," she frowned.

"He speaks of you quite a lot, actually. I think he's rather proud." No, they weren't speaking of the same Master Zaim, were they? Zaim wasn't proud of her. He yelled at her for every choice she made, always disapproving, always…

Shaking her head, she decided to change the subject, "What about you? A kind man like you probably have a nice wife at home," she looked down at her hands, remembering Bakura and sighing loudly.

Mahad gave her a sympathetic smile, "Actually no, my father never really intended for me to marry. He wanted me," he paused, "To focus on my studies. But right now I have little time for that or love; my duties are to the Pharaoh." How sad, he would've made a good husband to some lucky girl. Oh…she realized those must've been the same thoughts Gamilla had about her. She didn't really like knowing how Gamilla felt, it bothered her. Mahad must've noticed her look because he said: "I'm not disappointed with the life I've lived. I'll meet my one and only someday, just not today."

She moved her hair over her right shoulder, brushing it with her fingers. "Yes, it's probably better that way, love is rather complicated and painful." Ugh, she sounded like such a downer, why was she talking about love? It made her heart ache and cry. She sighed again, holding her chest. "How is life in the Court?"

He chuckled, "It is...not quite what I expected," he said, looking down at his Ring and gently holding it. "There are things I wish I hadn't known." He stopped and turned to her which made her stop to and face him. "The Court is filled with secrets, be it people or our items. I am lucky to be in the Pharaoh's Court with the old wielders and to get to know the new ones. You, on the other hand…will more than likely join the Court along with the new Queen's Guards."

"New?" she questioned and he nodded.

"Most of the wielders are preparing to pass on their items to the next generation. Priest Amon and Master Aknadin being the exceptions." He excluded her father so she really was going to join the court. "It might be hard to make friendships with a court that has no experience with each other. I suppose you must look to Priest Amon for guidance as we will to Master Aknadin. They both have been here quite some time."

"Is it possible for me to get to know these other wielders?" she asked, liking the court less and less. At least if she was a court magician she could've stayed away from everyone, it would have just been her magic and the Pharaoh.

He shook his head, "I do not know the other wielders," he replied. She frowned and sighed, "I do know one who is like you though. He comes from a less opportune background than most of the other wielders. He's training to become a priest right now. His name is Set."

"Maybe Set and I can be friends," she stated, wondering what Set's reasons were of why he came here. He probably hadn't been forced into it, perhaps he chose it for honor and whatnot which would only make her feel more horrible about herself. From ahead of them, making a turn she spotted her father walking alongside a beautiful woman who had long black hair that reached her back, dazzling blue eyes and held herself quite regally and yet she looked so stern it frightened Meskhenet. The woman wore a dress of white, her body adorn with jewelry with a single necklace tied around her neck, blue and in the shape of an eye.

"That is Priestess Halima, Wielder of the Dragon's Eye," Mahad told her as her father and Halima walked right over to them, stopping a few feet in front. Mahad gave a bow with his head, "Hello, Priestess Halima." The stern woman returned his nod, but focused her attention on Meskhenet.

"Mes, this is Priestess Halima," her father gestured to the black haired woman. "She will be teaching you for your duties as a priestess." Oh, she wished she had someone nice and less regal, someone more like Zaim. Sure, he could lose his temper, but he was easy to ignore at times. Halima, however, she oozed strictness in every way and her presence demanded respect and command, it was all so scary for Meskhenet.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Halima said to Meskhenet which surprised her because the woman spoke in a gentle manner, though her tone still held a bit of harshness to it. "I have heard a lot about you."

 _I haven't…_ not sure what to do, Meskhenet bowed lowly, "Pleased to make your acquaintance," she said a little loudly. Mahad merely smiled, looking over to Halima though, she held a different expression, merely nodding to Meskhenet's greeting. Turning to her father, they spoke in quiet whispers which worried her. She wanted to know what they were speaking about; she knew it was her, argh, why did they have to whisper in front of her?

"Priestess Halima, Priest Yaqeen, I have to take my leave," Mahad said as the two adults acknowledged his statement with curt nods. Panic took over her as she frantically looked at the adults then at Mahad. No! She didn't want him to leave, he was good company and she liked talking to him. He turned to her, "It was nice seeing you again and quite a pleasure to talk to you. I do hope you can resolve your issues though, good luck." He gave her a small wave. "May we meet again."

"Um, it was nice talking to you too and thank you for the advice…" she muttered, not finding any excuse in her brain to make him stay. He bowed slightly before turning the other way and leaving her there with the adults. _Oh, I feel like I'm going to die…_ when the two stopped talking, her father came over and patted her head, kissing her on the cheek before he walked off, leaving too which meant she was stuck with Halima who she gave a sheepish smile to.

"Your father does not wish to have you live in Thebes," Halima started, "Although it would be easier to train you this way if you were closer to the temples and shrines. Your time will come though, for now I will show you around the temples and leave you with a bit of homework." Out with the magic, in with the temples, Meskhenet merely nodded quietly as Halima offered a gentle smile, "I am sorry. I know this is not what you wish for, but it is a great honor to serve Egypt." _It should be a great honor and yet…it feels like my doom._ Clearing her throat, Halima walked a bit closer to the redhead. "Your father did inform me that you have yet to summon your ka."

"Yes…I have been unsuccessful," she admitted, feeling a burn to her ego. Why did it feel like her father and Zaim just spoke about her to everyone? She didn't like the fact they knew her and she didn't know them. Her father never spoke of his work at home so she knew nothing about the Queen's Guards which made her feel awkward with Halima who probably knew eighty percent of her, if not more.

"We will have to work on that," Halima told her, "Come with me, please." She walked passed Meskhenet who slowly spun around and trudged after the black haired woman, almost like it was a death march to her funeral. Well, at least with this training she could avoid thinking about Bakura. Placing a hand to her chest as her heart throbbed painfully, even if her mind forgot him, her heart still cried for him. Why couldn't they just be one for once? "Training to be a priestess takes about five years, there is a possibility to rise up in a shorter amount of time, though that happens rarely. I am determined to get you to the Queen's Guards as soon as possible."

"Yes," Meskhenet said. This was her life now. Her future had taken a different spin than what she had expected, thieves, wielders, items, everything she had never taken into account were prevalent in her life now. Did any of this mean anything? Did the gods have something planned for her? Or was her changed future just a speck of sand in the desert? Whatever it was, it didn't bode well for her, somehow joining the Queen's Guards felt like her doom.

* * *

I always feel so bad when Meskhenet talks to Mahad because of how he dies :(. Well, read and review! :3


	21. Chapter XXI: The Ram

Chapter XXI: The Ram

Nothing she had ever seen in her years of life had ever prepared her for this. Fat, gross and beaten, the book weighed a ton. It was so fat the pages looked like they would pop any moment from the weak spine that held them together. Even lifting the damn thing with magic was tough; it was like an exercise that required a lot of attention, something she just didn't want to give it. She floated it with great effort beside her as the sheep stopped and looked at her, some trying to bite the obese book as it threatened to fall onto the ground. Occasionally it did, dropping and sending her sheep scurrying away until she picked it up and the sheep filled the gap they had left.

Taymur trotted to her right, giving her a lazy look which she returned with a glare. "You think this is easy?" she asked, losing concentration and letting the book fall once again. Ugh! She kicked it only for it to shoot a pain in her leg that caused her to hop and rub her leg. "Ammit," she cursed under her breath. There were a few good things that happened after her trip from Thebes. Zaim became too busy trying to find a place to move for him and Skylar, but more importantly it was the season of _Proyet_ , had she been a farmer she would've been overjoyed that the Nile's flooding had receded for black soil to grow the crops but right now she was merely overjoyed that it was breeding season for the horses! Zaim was busy attending to his ranch and equines to worry about her, he needed to make a business somehow and that was his when he wasn't training her as a magician. No more Zaim watching her now!

"Baa!" Taymur bleated angrily at her inside joy. She sighed and slowly lifted the book once more as she and her sheep parade headed to the Nile, but taking longer than usual as she had to keep making stops to pick up the fat book. Once they reached the Nile, the sheep scrambled away from her, happy to get some grub while she plopped down on the floor, dropping her crook at her side while she scooted the book towards her, the soft soil quite visible now that the Nile had receded back to its original position.

She flipped the old, beaten book opened and frowned. This contained every story and every god in the Egyptian belief along with all the festivals and symbols attaining to each god. This was her homework from Priestess Halima, to study and memorize every god in this book. She already knew everything there was to know of Osiris. The very first page held the story of Ra, his rebirth and journey; flipping to one of the pages she saw Apep and it hurt her heart. Seeing the image of the snake made her realize just how much she missed one particular snake. Holding herself, she looked around, expecting Diabound to show up but of course, why would he?

Taymur bleated at her right in her face before trotting off to graze and keep guard. Sighing, she began to read but then she felt something, a chill in the breeze and an ominous presence behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Twitching her eyebrow, she angrily flipped a page, tearing it at the bottom. _Ammit!_

"What do you want?" she asked rudely as Ata came to sit beside her only for her to scoot a little away from him. Taymur watched them from a distance, never tearing his eyes away from the two. "I told you there isn't a relationship so go away, please…"

"We're bounded by blood," he said, trying to look at her face but he was sitting to her right while her body was twisted to face the opposite direction while she skimmed the fat book. "Whether you like it or not, we're family." He said that before too! She had never really considered Zaim family, he was a distant relative, and in fact she remembered Hakim telling her they were so distant that their blood was barely the same. "My only desire is to help you."

Angrily, she turned to him, her hands balling into fists. "Help me? Help me?!" she shouted, throwing her hands in the air before she jabbed a finger at him, "If you wanted to help me you would've never, never given me that potion! I admit it, it was my fault but…" she didn't know what to say anymore so she fell silent as she clenched her jaw and turned away from him. "I shouldn't have trusted you."

"Don't lock me out," he said with a bit of a laugh. "I never meant for you to get hurt. Perhaps you will find someone better."

It hurt to hear that. She didn't think she could find anyone better. No one would make her feel the way Bakura did… regardless of how many times she told herself that, regardless how many damn times she told herself there were _way_ better men out there, like Mahad. She couldn't force her feelings. It hurt so badly.

"I am sorry," he said and the sound of his voice startled her. It sounded genuinely sad and caring. She looked at him, but his gaze was focused on the Nile. He looked sad and lonely, it was the same look she recognized from Zaim after Anya died, not Bakura's loneliness but something different, grief. He looked like a star casted out from the rest, lost and alone. He really did look like Zaim. He noticed her stare and turned to her with a small smile. "Can you forgive me?"

"I don't know if I should…" she said, moving away from him even more. All those warnings, she'd be a fool to trust him. "My father and Master Zaim…they keep telling me to stay away from you. How can I trust you?"

"Small steps," he replied, "I know no one likes what I do—what I did. But I'm not that man anymore." She didn't believe that, sometimes he seemed genuine, his words were sweet and his tone kind, but he still gave her a chill, sometimes his smile sent her skin crawling and he just felt…sinister. "They never spoke of what I did to you, did they?" She looked at him, frowning. No, they didn't. Regardless of how many times she asked, both Zaim and her father wouldn't say. Nakia was much too busy so she hadn't bothered to try and ask the older woman. She was curious of what Ata did and yet she was a bit frightened too. Ata looked up at the sky, leaning back on his arms. "I…I wanted to make everything better for Nakia, for my mother so I studied some materials that weren't exactly, how do I say it? Appropriate. Resurrection, creation…dark magic, I just wanted so much to fix the mistakes Zaim did, I just wanted to make everything better. I know now what I did was rather stupid but I can't erase the past."

"Resurrection?"

He turned to her and smiled, it was a normal smile but it sent chills through her body and she held herself to calm her beating heart. Resurrection? "Yes, resurrection, I found information that—ah, I shouldn't tell you this," he chuckled. No…she wanted to know. Was there a way to bring the dead back to life? It had never once occurred to her that resurrection was possible, but if it was…couldn't she make things better? "People avoid me for what I did."

 _Hakim and mother, if I could bring them back; we could be a family again! Everything would be better!_ She looked out distractedly at the Nile, watching the sheep walk and dance in its shiny substance. No, those thoughts were wrong. She looked down at her book of the gods, she was training to be a priestess, and she had a duty to uphold. Death and life should be left to the gods, but still…

"Maybe we should speak about what is more relevant to you," Ata said, trying to change the subject. But her mind was stuck on whether she should ask him more. Taymur came charging over between them, causing the two to move away from each other as he came, and showing his horns to Ata who scrambled to his feet. Taymur bleated angrily, pawing the dirt and shaking his head. "Whoa…"

"Taymur!" Meskhenet shouted as she jumped to her feet, trying to take hold of Taymur's horns but he shook his head out of her grasp as he charged at Ata who moved to the side, dodging the angry ram. She had never seen Taymur angry before, was he protecting her from Ata? Taymur bleated and turned, charging once more and this time making contact with Ata who got pushed down. The ram came over him, showing his horns but Ata tried to move Taymur off, rolling to the side when Taymur stood on his hind legs. "Taymur!" Picking up her shepherd's crook, she ran in front of Taymur while Ata got to his feet. "Stop it! Taymur!"

"Baaaa!" the ram bleated, trying to maneuver around her.

"Ammit! Taymur!" she blocked his way before crouching down and wrapping her arms around his neck while he tried to shake her off. "You should go," she told Ata, seeing as he was agitating her ram. As much as she wanted to hear what Ata had to say, her first priority was to her flock. Ata said nothing, frowning as he looked at the angry ram before he walked off. Taymur kept pawing the ground until Ata was long gone. The ram finally shook her off and went to the Nile. "Taymur…" she clicked her tongue in disappointment.

"Baaa!"

Angrily, she got up and went over to the ram that looked to be glaring at her. "Why did you do that?! I could've learned something!" she shouted at him, but he ignored her, sauntering off. "You have your family, why can't I have mine? Ever since Hakim died we've been broken, if I could bring him back a-and mother then everything will be better! Why don't you understand, I need this…?"

"Baaaaa!" Taymur spat at her as if he was trying to argue back. He showed his horns to her and stepped forward, backing her up. What was wrong with him?

"You're just an animal, what do you understand?!" she shouted Taymur bleated at her before trotting over to her book, nudging it forward. She narrowed her eyes at him as he scooted the book to her feet. He bleated again and then took off to stand at the perimeter of his ewes. She sighed, placing her hands on her head. "You're just an animal…you don't understand."

* * *

A few days later, she went to get some fruit while her father took the sheep out—all the sheep except Taymur who for some odd reason decided to stick to her much to her annoyance. The ram was acting odd, staying close by her throughout the days and even going so far to jump the fence to be at the window of her study as if to keep an eye on her. It was creepy, why was he watching her? She thought Zaim had put a spell on him but when she tried using some counter spells, nothing happened. Taymur was under no magic, just being oddly protective of her…from Ata she assumed.

Taymur walked beside her as she went over to the apple vendor, nearly smacking straight into a customer while she watched the ram that walked on like nothing at all was abnormal about this. She picked up a few apples, handing the currency over to the merchant who frowned at her ram. What else did she need? Looking through the marketplace, she thought of buying some wine for her father, but her eyes fell on light hair that stood out like a sore thumb. Her heart stopped as time seemed to pass in slow motion as the person turned around and for a brief moment her eyes locked onto his blue ones and her heart ached so badly and her eyes threatened to spill over with tears. His gaze was so distant and cold, she spun around, placing a hand over her face as she hurried off. Why was he back in Mallawi? He had no reason to be here. No, he probably was passing through, she ran off, not able to hold back the tears as Taymur trotted after her. She went back home and slammed her study door closed behind her and Taymur, not realizing at all that the ram was in her house.

She paced around her room, twisting and gripping her fingers and biting her lip. "No, no, it doesn't matter. Everything is fine, everything is fine…" she exhaled and turned to Taymur who was reaching over from an apple in her basket that she had placed on the desk. "Why do you think he's back? Not for me, that's for sure…Ra, what am I going to do, Taymur? I can't control my emotions? If I see him again, I'd probably just break down." The ram didn't care; he took the apple into his mouth and brought it to the floor, nibbling on it. Why did she have to see him again? She should've just gotten some wine and drank her sorrows away or took the sheep out to the Nile instead of her father so she wouldn't have seen him. "Everything is fine…" but everything wasn't fine because her heart cried for the rest of the day, so early in the morning she offered relentlessly to take the sheep out and her father eventually gave in. She snuck a bottle of wine out with her while she led the sheep to the Nile.

Zaim, her father informed her, would not be joining because he was trying to take care of his pregnant mares, but she could've cared less, too selfishly busy in her own thoughts to pay anyone much mind. She kept her eyes on the bottle, debating on drinking it now. She knew she had a low tolerance for this so it would be quite easy to get drunk. She hated the after feeling though so she wasn't quite certain she wanted to drink.

"Baa," Taymur bleated and she looked to the ram. He was being quite vocal today, bleating continuously. She wondered what was up, looking around she didn't spot Ata anywhere so she frowned as they continued to walk to the Nile. He didn't stop his continuous bleats which was making her frustrated and yet worried. What was his problem?

When they got to the Nile, she let the sheep out but Taymur didn't leave her side, bleating as he looked to the waters. "Taymur, shh!" she said and he looked at her and bleated some more. "What is wrong with you today?" He pulled on her dress and she yanked it back only for him to grab it again. She checked around for any danger but there wasn't any. She felt like smacking the ram with her crook but he continued to bleat. Eventually he stopped but didn't eat. She stroked the ram's wool, but he shook her off and walked away. "Fine…" she sat down, looking at the wine bottle.

Some of the ewes came over to her, chewing on the grass. She petted them. A soft breeze blew passed her, and she could've sworn she heard some whispering, making her turn around, but there wasn't anyone there. Her skin crawled, making her feel cold; the feeling reminded her of Ata's sinister smile. Sighing, she put the bottle down and watched it vibrate until it fell over onto its sides, the ground rumbled, sending rocks dancing and the bottle rolling off. She shot to her feet, gripping her crook tightly. What was wrong? Her sheep stopped eating and she began to call them back.

Suddenly, a splash of water was seen from the Nile and from the flying droplets of water, she saw that it was a crocodile that popped out of the water, jaws opened wide as it nearly caught some sheep but they ran off. Meskhenet shouted for her sheep over, opening the palm of her hand. _"Sedjet en sedjet!"_ Fire sparked into her hand, warming her as she sent it hurling to the crocodile only for it to retreat into the waters. There shouldn't be any crocodiles in this area! The sheep ran and pranced out of the waters as quickly as possible while the ground still shook, threatening her balance. Taymur bleated as Meskhenet turned around to spot the cause of the shaking and saw from the banks of the Nile and down south, a stampede of hippos were coming right at them. "Oh Ra…" she breathed as she stomped her crook into the ground. All the sheep ran out and Meskhenet sent them out of the banks. She heard a sheep cry out and turned around. It was one of the young ewes, she was surrounded by crocodiles. How did they get here? She didn't know, but she sent another fireball at one crocodile that moved away.

Taymur came running to save his daughter, smacking right into the side of an open mouth crocodile with his body, giving the young ewe just enough time to run with the rest of the flock. He bleated and ran towards Meskhenet who signaled him over, not leaving until all her sheep were in front of her. She ushered him forward as he jumped through the water, aiming for the banks of the Nile while the others scurried off through the green and lows hill. Turning her attention to the west, she saw much to her horror; the hippos had gained on them and were running right their way. The sheep were headed towards the town (thank Ra they knew the way!), looking back she saw Taymur was right at the edge of the water. Anxiously, she turned to the hippos that were right were ten feet away and quickly approaching. Her body froze and fear took over as her heart thumped so hard, it felt like it was stuck in her throat. Taymur bleated, snapping her back and allowing the adrenaline to kick in.

She ran after her flock as the hippos came charging at them, Taymur followed close behind her but she heard a loud splash and the painful cry of Taymur. Turning around, she saw a hippo charging at her; she jumped to the side, hitting the ground. "Taymur!" she quickly got up, seeing a crocodile dragging Taymur back towards the Nile. She sent a fireball at the crocodile and it opened its mouth, letting Taymur the chance to run off. They climbed up the banks and ran after the flock of sheep. The hippos were moving quite fast and the crocodiles had even crawled out of the banks of the Nile to pursue them. That definitely wasn't normal behavior.

Despite how fast she ran, the hippos were right at their feet. She wasn't going to be able to outrun them! Taymur bucked the hippos away but it was a feeble effort as he was too small. Meskhenet tripped and heard her sheep cry. A hippo's shadow loomed over her, it wasn't stopping. She shut her eyes and called out "Freeze!" and the rumbling disappeared. All the noises and everything disappeared, but her breathing and the rapid beating of her heart. She cracked an eye open and saw that all the animals had frozen in place with the hippo right over her. She scooted away from the frozen beast and got up, shaken. She saw a crocodile had nearly bitten down on one of the ewes not too far away from her so she went right over to the statue like creatures and moved her sheep away from the open mouth. Taking in a shaky breath, she made sure all her sheep were safe as she rubbed her arms, walking through the statues.

She glared at a crocodile and kicked it, but that only hurt her foot. What was wrong with these animals? Hippos and crocodiles didn't hunt together and they definitely didn't chase after sheep. It was almost like someone had put a spell on them. She felt a feeling of dread as she realized that must have been it. Who though? No, it didn't matter, what mattered was getting her flock to safety.

A sheep bleated, shattering the silence and she was surprised to hear one of her sheep. She looked around, everyone was frozen but then she spotted a limping Taymur with a badly twisted and bloody leg, coming to her, practically dragging his hind legs. She gasped, running over to the ram and he bleated. "Oh, Ra!" his wound looked really bad with his knee twisted backwards, blood streaming down to his hoof and his flesh exposed from the tears in his hock and stifle. All of his legs were scratched and bloodied slightly but his right hind leg was a lost cause. "Oh, Taymur," she placed a hand to her mouth as she petted her ram. He had fought to defend his family and he had tried to help her. She didn't know how she could repay the ram but deep down she knew that she couldn't and it made her cry. _No…this can't be…_ the ram nuzzled his face on her stomach as she held him in a tight embrace, weeping, stroking his wool and whispering soothing words to him.

He bleated lowly as if he had no energy. She stood up, wiping her tears, right now she needed to get the flock out of here along with Taymur. Concentrating hard, she unfroze her flock and they trotted on ahead, noticing the lack of danger. She looked back at the stupid beasts and glared at them, it was probably not their fault but they had hurt Taymur. She helped Taymur walk all the way to town, keeping him close by her, her form crouched a bit with a protective arm over his back while he leaned on her, limping. When they reached the outskirts of town, Zaim ran over to her, looking frazzled and concerned as he saw Taymur, his mouth hanging open while she sniffled and cried.

"What happened?" he asked with worry.

She shook her head, "Back at the Nile, there's some animals…I-I left them frozen. You should probably check it out." He reached to help but stopped before running off out of town. She continued to help Taymur towards her home.

When she reached home, she made a bed of hay for Taymur, placing him under the unused stables in the backyard. He didn't bleat anymore but he was breathing hard as he lied completely down on his side, his broken leg hanging out unnaturally. She tried cleaning his wound and wrapping it but he kept flinching and crying in pain so she stopped, hanging her head down and clutching the bandages. With careful and slow movements, she managed to place a makeshift bandage on his leg. Lifting his head, he looked at her and bleated once as if to say thank you. She sat down near him, taking his head into her lap as she cried, stroking him and waiting for Zaim to come back.

How could this happen? How could she allow this to happen? She felt so guilty for all her frustrations at Taymur, all he ever did was be himself, protect her and look out for his flock. She hugged his head while his rapid breathing continued. Zaim came back at nightfall. She was still sitting next to Taymur, her whole being feeling like she had been engulfed in a cyclone of hopelessness. Taymur wouldn't eat or drink. He just lay there, breathing hard.

Zaim approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "The animals at the Nile were under a spell."

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Can you heal him?" he furrowed his brows and bent down near Taymur. He touched the ram's heart then went over to look at his leg, lightly undoing the bandage and hissing at the sight lowly as he furrowed his brows and looked at her.

 _Don't say…please, don't say it!_ "I cannot heal this," he said as he let the bandaged fall off Taymur's leg that didn't even flinch anymore. Meskhenet's tears came spilling out as she tightened her embrace over the ram. She wept and wept, but the ram just lied there, staring blankly ahead as if his life was already over. "He won't live. He's suffering. You have to kill him or sell him to slaughter." He placed a hand over her head and walked away.

She cried over Taymur and eventually Taymur turned to her and bleated, nudging her arm. It felt like a plea for the end and it hurt so badly, as she blinked through her tears, petting his muzzles. "I'm sorry, Taymur, I'm so sorry." The ram had been with her for nearly six years, she had seen him as a baby and he had grown into a handsome ram and successfully became leader of the flock. But now his life was over… he wouldn't live anymore and the thought crushed Meskhenet's heart. She couldn't bear the thought of it.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm cruel :(. Read and Review!


	22. Chapter XXII: The Heartache

Chapter XXII: The Heartache

Taymur was sold for slaughter, but Meskhenet refused to take the money and ran off before the deal was made so Zaim had to do it for her. She spent the entire day, sitting with the ewes and mourning for Taymur. It was like losing her farm all over again and her mother too… the sheep went on like they didn't care and it infuriated Meskhenet. She locked herself in her room and cried over there until the sun began to set.

Someone knocked at her door; she turned away while lying on her bed of sheets. The person opened the door and cleared his throat. "Meskhenet…" said Zaim. "Look…Taymur, he lived a good life. Please, it—he was just an animal…"

"Go away," she said coldly and Zaim sighed, closing the door and leaving. Stupid Zaim, stupid her, Taymur was more than just an animal…he was family. He was brave and loving; he was the greatest ram she had ever known. Looking back, she realized Taymur had been looking out for her in his last days of life. Had Taymur not intervened during her conversation with Ata, she probably would've done something she would regret later. Taymur was a guardian. Meskhenet's father came in some time later and sat down next to her. He stroked her head and coughed. She turned to him. "Father, you should be resting…"

"This old man rests so much that he's afraid he might wake up in a sarcophagus one day," he was trying to joke, but she couldn't laugh. She gave him a small smile. "Oh, Mes, I know it hurts." He hugged her as she sat up and he patted her back. "Taymur is in our hearts…" _and in others' stomachs…_

"I hate death," she said. "I wish it didn't exist."

"Mes, it's the circle of life. Everything that lives must die. Some die young, others old, some feel like it's too soon and others feel too late. Death is what makes life so much more precious," he kissed her forehead. She knew he was trying to comfort her, but she didn't really want to hear that. "Taymur would have suffered if we kept him alive."

"I know…"

He coughed. "Well, I think Bakura is back." She looked at him, her heart only hurting more. Right, she hadn't told him everything that happened in Beni Suef, he only knew she took off there and had talked to Ata or something along those lines. She hadn't told him of her and Bakura's breakup. She gave him a fake smile but couldn't hold it for long so she let it fall and curled up like a ball in her sheets. _If I was a more powerful magician, Taymur wouldn't need to die…_ Her father looked at her sadly, but he got up and gave her some space.

When night fell, she sighed and got up, not wanting to spend her time here, alone in her thoughts. She left her house and went to the marketplace, trying to distract herself. She paused in the middle of the street when she felt like she was being watched. She turned around and scanned the area, but saw no one then she spotted a man in brown robes, standing quite some distance away from her. The people passing by blocked her view of the man at times but she recognized that sinister smile even from this far. She gasped and someone called her name, causing her to spin around.

It was Gamilla, looking sympathetic with her hand on Meskhenet's shoulder. "I heard what happened from your father. I'm sorry…I know how much they mean to you," she said in a quiet voice, referring to the sheep. Meskhenet turned around to see if she could spot Ata, but he was no longer there. "Look, what happened at the feast the other day…I-I flipped out. I mean I guess I can understand why you'd tell him but still I ju—"

She didn't want an argument with Gamilla. Despite her differences and issues with the blonde, she liked her company and right now, she really needed company. "Gamilla…I didn't tell him anything." Gamilla was silent as she furrowed her brows. "I never mentioned you to him…I don't really want to talk about it. I'm sorry."

"As am I…" Gamilla whispered. She looked around, "Where is your lover? I think I owe him an apology too."

Meskhenet stared at Gamilla for a long time, taking in a deep breath. "We're not…together. Um, we uh…I don't want to talk about it, alright?" her eyes brimmed over with tears at the thought of Bakura; she was already weak from Taymur's death. She couldn't handle this.

Gamilla looked surprised. "Do you want a drink?" she offered, "Because I think I could…really, really use one right now." Looking at Gamilla now, she realized that she had been crying, her eyes slightly puffy and her nose a little red.

"Oh, Gamilla…"

"Look, it's just the usual thing. Do you want one?" Gamilla asked, trying to avoid the direct conversation. She wasn't going to pry so she merely nodded, not exactly planning on drinking. Her heart and head hurt from crying, she didn't need any more pain from drinking. Together, the two walked through the marketplace, heading over to an alleyway and coming out from the other side. Gamilla's hand slipped off Meskhenet's shoulder as she turned left towards the inn where the lights lit up through the windows, laughter and music loud enough to hear.

Meskhenet, for reasons unknown, looked to the right and saw a black haired girl, waiting outside a house, swaying and humming lowly as she brushed her fingertips over a white lotus. She looked so happy, distracted and day dreaming as she looked at the flower. Meskhenet recognized that look. The girl was in love. _Lucky her…_ hearing something, the girl turned the other direction, her face breaking into a wide grin as a young man came over.

Blinking, she saw who the man was. It was Bakura, wearing nothing but a shendyt as he placed his hands on the girl's arms and leaned in to give her a long kiss on the lips that sent Meskhenet's heart jolting inside her, leaving her with a feeling of numbness. She couldn't process her feelings well, all she knew was that her heart felt crushed, like it was nothing more than a bloody pulp inside, beating to nothing shallowly as she took a step back, watching the two. Oddly, she didn't cry, maybe her tears already dried up or maybe deep down she expected this. She didn't know, but through the numbness there was pain, indescribable pain. She slowly turned around and walked like a corpse over to the inn where Gamilla held the door opened for her.

"Are you coming…?" Gamilla asked as Meskhenet looked up, eyes shifting to the inside of the bar. She nodded and walked in.

* * *

Through the dark night, a fire crackled while the two girls sang at the top of their lungs, laughing and cackling likes witches through the night while they danced and hopped around the large fire, drinks in hands. Spinning and dancing, Meskhenet swayed nearly falling into the fire but she spun in a circle and fell on her rear, her drink sloshing in its bottle as she laughed while rolling on the ground. She no longer knew up from down or anything at all! She was too giddy from the wine and singing that nothing really mattered anymore.

Taymur was but a distant memory and Bakura? Who even cared! Not her, she wasn't going to give a single thought to him because he moved on with his life, it wouldn't be wrong for her to do the same. Tonight, she would enjoy the fruity wine and songs with Gamilla who was still dancing around the fire, skipping and running as if she was a child. Why couldn't life always be like this? Not a care in the world! Everything was so much better than this!

"You know, I bet if we went to the br-brothel we could get some men to bed with us," Gamilla said, clumsily coming over to plop herself down next to Meskhenet who took a big swing of her bottle.

Meskhenet stopped drinking, looking at her friend through her bleary vision, double and fuzzy. "What…?" she laughed, "No way."

"We totally can! You got a nice face and a perfect body and I'm perfection to its finest!" she laughed, throwing an arm around the redhead's shoulders.

"Perfect body?" please, there could've been improvements. "My breasts are too small."

Gamilla blinked, looking down at the bust of her friend. "I don't see what's wrong with them? At least you're not some plank."

Meskhenet laughed, clutching her stomach. A plank? Oh, she would've been too ashamed to even try a relationship if she was flat breasted; she pitied any girl who was one. Ah, what were they talking about again? "I don't want to have sex at a brothel."

Gamilla grinned, "You're not chaste. You've had a lover."

"Lover? I never had anyone. I haven't done anything."

"Oh, you should have! You missed your chance."

Meskhenet shrugged and drunk her bottle down to nothing, throwing it aside. She blinked, looking through the fire for the other bottles. She wobbled to her feet and stumbled over to the opposite side, looking for the drinks. Where were they? Feeling the ground, she picked up two more bottles, throwing her arms in the air as if she had won victorious over the hiding bottles. "What about you? Are you ever going to try?"

Gamilla scoffed. "I already did!"

"No!" Meskhenet laughed as she tiptoed over to the blonde, practically falling on her as the blonde pushed her away, laughing and giggling. Meskhenet gasped, realizing she was serious. "Oh! You're so bad. When? With who?"

Gamilla giggled like a child, patting her feet in the sand, "I don't remember his name. It was a year ago. I'm not marrying anyways, why does it matter?"

"But your parents!"

She shrugged like she just didn't care. "I'm a loss cause to them anyways," she fell silent as she hugged her knees. Meskhenet drank half of one of the bottles, looking up at the stars that were nothing but blurry lines of white or not there at all, it was hard to tell. "My brother gets the farm and I get nothing."

"That's not true. Your parents love you," Meskhenet said, not really paying much attention to her words.

Gamilla looked at her, "You know why I laughed at you? Why I act like a bitch all the time?" Meskhenet shrugged, not caring. "Because I hated you so much, I was jealous—I am jealous."

Meskhenet frowned, "There's nothing to be jealous of me. I'm not great."

"You became a woman before I did. You know I'm still not one yet and I never will be. My parents can't marry me off; no man wants a woman who has no chance of having children." Gamilla took a sip of her wine as she stared off into the fire. Meskhenet's senses were dulled, but she was brought back a little, focusing on every single word Gamilla said. "You though," she laughed, "You can bear any man's child and you threw your life away, trying to be a magician. I'd be lucky if I became a woman, I'd marry regardless for love or not."

Meskhenet sat silently, drinking her wine. "It's not too late. I think I'll do that."

Gamilla laughed mockingly at her, "Really? Don't do it for me."

"I'm not," she said honestly, looking at her bottle. Her senses slowly coming back as the pain of her heart engulfed her once more, Bakura coming back into her mind and that kiss…his lips on that girl's. She would've given anything for it again, to feel him, talk to him, and be with him…it was too late now. "I think I should move on with my life."

"I don't want you to," Gamilla shoved her shoulder into Meskhenet's, pushing her lightly. "I don't want you making irrational decisions. I want to know you as Meskhenet the Court Magician of the Pharaoh! All hail, Meskhenet! The great, the spectacular!" she stood up, lifting her bottle in the air as if giving Meskhenet a toast.

"I'm no court magician anymore. I'm going to be a priestess."

Gamilla looked down, surprised. "Wha…?"

Meskhenet laughed, "Yes, Meskhenet the priestess, servant to the Queen, stuck in a temple with all the statues of our beloved gods!"

Gamilla giggled, "That sounds so boring."

Meskhenet gave her a small smile, the effects of the wine conflicting with her own senses. She spun the bottle in her hand, taking small sips. Taymur's leg, his bleats and cries echoed through her mind and the scene of Bakura kissing that girl kept flashing in her eyes like it was forever stuck there. No, no, she didn't want these images, she didn't want these memories. She guzzled down the wine, throwing the bottle into the fire, causing it to flare up momentarily then she drank some more wine, feeling the effects take over, overflowing her senses, dulling her once more with the giddiness and hot feeling as she stood up and started swaying.

"Move those hips!" Gamilla said, coming over to Meskhenet in a dancing manner, taking her arms into her hands as Meskhenet rolled her shoulders, swaying her hips. "Come on!" Gamilla let her go, spinning around and drinking while Meskhenet lifted her arms over her head, rocking her hips to the imaginary music in her head. "You should dance more often!" Meskhenet twirled around, drinking some more as she came over in front of Gamilla, moving her arms as the blonde took her bottle from her, drinking both her own and Meskhenet's who laughed while she picked up the pace of her dance before slowing down, running her fingers through her hair as she put on a show for no one. Gamilla too immersed in her drinking to pay anymore heed to Meskhenet.

"Meskhenet!" someone called to her and she stopped dancing, turning this way and that to look for her had called her name. Squinting, she spotted Zaim coming over to them as Gamilla clumsily hid her bottles behind her back. "What in Ra's name?"

"Master!" she called happily, signaling him over. "You should come and dance for us or no, no…sing! You can sing! I've heard you sing to Issar before. What was the song again? Some Hyksos song, you know what I'm talking about?"

"Are you drunk?" he asked, coming right in front of her and looking her over with a face of disgust. "What brought this on…? You never drink this much or rather, barely at all," he looked back at Gamilla who gave him a sheepish smile. "I need to take you home." He grabbed her arm and dragged her forward as she stumbled after him. "Gamilla, come here too. I'll take you home."

"No, no, Meskhenet and I are going to head to the brothel!" Gamilla called after him, drinking and letting the wine fall at her clothes and passed her mouth. Meskhenet burst out laughing as Zaim whipped around, glaring at the blonde. "We have got to get her to loosen up."

Zaim was silent, "I'll break every bone in your body if it means loosening you up," he told Meskhenet but she just laughed at him. He didn't mean that, he'd never do that! He may not have said it, but she knew he would never, ever hit her again, not like when she was a child. "You will not be spreading your legs for some pig."

"Ew!" Gamilla said, taking his words literally, "Not with a pig, a human, sir, a human!"

"Master, I think we should have a sheep wedding," Meskhenet said, grabbing his arm and patting it. He glared at her, "Oh, no, not a wedding…an-an induction for our new ram! Should we name him Taymur II?" Zaim's eyes softened at her and he brushed her bangs aside.

"Mes, everything will turn out alright" he told her and that was the last thing she remembered before blanking out.

* * *

There was a loud pounding in her head like something was chiseling away at her brain. Holy mother of Horus, it hurt terribly, she groaned and placed a hand to her head, oh, it was throbbing painfully. Slowly, she sat up as all the images of last night came flooding to her brain, she couldn't remember everything but they were singing and dancing and something about Gamilla not being a virgin. Zaim had come and then what? She couldn't remember, it hurt too much, she groaned as she held her head between her knees and hands, clutching at her hair. She blinked and stared at her shoes, she was still wearing the same outfit from yesterday. Sighing, she remembered why she had drank so much yesterday…she needed release from the scene of Bakura and that girl. _That's why he's here…for that girl._ Angry, she jumped to her feet and kicked off her shoes. Of all the villages and town in Egypt, why did he have to be with a girl from Mallawi?! The same place she lived! Oh, her brain…

"Mes? Are you up?" her father's muffled voice called from his room. She slowly walked over there, opening the door while rubbing her forehead. Her brain must've splattered inside because there certainly didn't feel like there was anything there. It felt a little odd to be walking around with no shoes now that she had been wearing them for so long. "Mes?"

"I'm awake, Father," she said with a groan as she stepped over to her kitchen. "Give me a moment." She went to get herself water, drinking lots of it then eating a small amount of bread and herbal remedies Nakia had given them for hangovers. They were so bitter. Yuck. Soon, the headache began to fade, slowly though, but at least it was reduced to just a pulsing in her head. She went over to her father's room to see him still in bed; he looked tired like he hadn't slept. He coughed into his hands and she came over at his bedside, sitting on the floor. "Good morning, Father."

He heaved and cleared his throat, "Good morning, Zaim told me about yesterday. What happened?"

She didn't really want to talk to him about it, but there was one part from last night she remembered quite clearly now. Marriage, moving on, yes, Bakura moved on, why shouldn't she? "Father, did you eat?" she tried first. He shook his head and lied down in his bed, coughing.

"Mes, I only desire water right now," as if to emphasize his point, he reached over to his nightstand and picked up his cup of water, drinking some. She smiled at him, a little distracted as she twirled her hair in her fingers. "Zaim said he found you drunk."

"Yes," she replied, not denying it. "Father…I was thinking. I am to become a priestess and the Wielder of the Dagger and I know you want my happiness and maybe right now the best thing for me is to…marry by arrangement."

Her father looked surprised but his expression changed to concern, "What of Bakura?"

"We haven't been together since Beni Suef," she said finally. He patted her head with sympathy, "I think I was wrong about him, he wasn't my soulmate," she laughed bitterly at herself.

"Is this a desperate attempt to make him jealous?"

"If only," she whispered, "No. This has nothing to do with him. I—I am not good at making decisions. I don't think I'll ever move on from him and if you ever hope to see me taken care of or having children, it would be best if you or Master Zaim chose someone for me. Like he said, I'll learn to love the man, right?"

"It might be too early. Perhaps if you just talk with Bakura," her father tried, but she shook her head. She couldn't be with him. That was that. She destroyed his trust. "Are you absolutely certain, Mes?"

She thought about that for a while. Did she have a future with Bakura? No, she couldn't see herself as some thief's wife or lover. He wouldn't settle down, it wasn't like him, more importantly why would he ever come back to her? "I'm certain."

Her father frowned, "I will speak to Zaim about it. Mes, I am truly sorry. I know you wanted a different life."

She stood up, brushing her dress. She gave him a sad smile, "It's like what you said years ago. The gods always have a different plan for us than the ones we have for ourselves." She stepped out of his room, pausing there. "I will get you some food." She prepared something for him before he finally got out of bed and ate then went to take the sheep out, leaving her to study her priestess studies.

* * *

A week and a half later, the whole town was buzzing with news that Master Zaim's apprentice was seeking a suitor. She spent all her time inside her study like she so often did before Bakura came into her life again. The specifications were quite to the point: someone older who could take care of her and someone who was willing to move to Thebes or around there as she would be going there 'soon' as Zaim put it.

Some children would come by and ask for a magic show, but she would politely tell them she had since given up magic. The days were long and boring, quiet like they used to be and the pain of Taymur's death turned to memories as she chose to remember the good times she had with the ram. His death still hurt but not as badly. At times, Skylar would come by with Issar just to keep her company and she was glad for that. Apparently, Gamilla and she were on speaking terms now too, maybe a drunken night under the stars was all they needed. Their talk was short, brief and enjoyable. The one thing that bothered her though was the look everyone gave her, like she was some sympathetic dog that needed pity.

"You need to get out of the house," Gamilla said one day as she grabbed Meskhenet's arm and pulled her towards the window. "You'll turn into a corpse and this will be your sarcophagus."

"Maybe it will be better that way," Meskhenet said, resisting the pull of her friend.

"No, Meskhenet, get out of there now!" Gamilla shouted at her as she ran behind her and shoved her out the window. Meskhenet sighed and went along with it, jumping out as she then walked off without waiting for the blonde. "You have to promise something."

"What?"

"When you marry, have children and move to Thebes, you have to visit me. At least let me meet your children," Gamilla said, looking around the marketplace. Meskhenet looked at her, smiling.

"I'll be sure to remember that. You do the same," she lightly pushed her, but Gamilla shook her head. "You know my mother used to tell me that sometimes menstrual cycles don't come until you're eighteen." That wasn't a very good prospect though; eighteen was too close to twenty-eight. At least that's what her mother told her. If she was around, she would've been overjoyed that Meskhenet became a woman by twelve.

"I think you should come with me and Neith and we can go swimming," Gamilla said, apparently ignoring Meskhenet's pathetic way of cheering her up.

"Where? In the Nile?"

"Yes, why not? We can skinny dip; it'll be just us girls of course." Ra, was she serious? She didn't seem to be joking. Is this what the others did? Meskhenet would never do such a thing, not in broad daylight and defiantly not in the Nile. She shook her head at the blonde who shrugged and pranced off, presumably to get Neith who lived east from the marketplace. Meskhenet stopped and looked up at the sky, clear skies today like usual, promising a better day than before. She sighed and rocked on her heels. Why was it that the pain of Taymur's death could fade, but the heartbreak from Bakura was as fresh like a knife that continued to cut at her?

"So you're getting married," someone said from behind her. It sent her heart freezing in place before it shook so violently she was afraid it'd burst. She slowly turned around to find Bakura eating an apple, tossing in the air before taking a bite as he looked her over, smiling. "You look well." She didn't know what to say to him so she said nothing, placing a hand on her arm. "You could at least greet me after everything you've done."

 _Gamilla, come back!_ "I'm looking for a suitor so yes, I will be getting married," she said, ignoring his last comment that stabbed her like a knife.

"Hmm," he frowned, "They also say you are moving to Thebes."

"Yes…" she looked down at the sand, unable to bear looking at him.

He looked down too and frowned when he saw she wasn't wearing shoes. To her surprise, he wiped his hand at the side of her mouth which startled her, making her step back. "You look better with a smile."

What was he doing? Flirting? No, that's just what she was hoping for. He had someone else now. "A lot of things happened," she replied, "Was there something you wanted?"

"I can't just talk?"

"Is that really all you want?"

"Are you implying something else?"

"Why are you here?"

"I just want to talk."

"Don't you have someone to be with?!" she snapped, looking at him angrily.

"Oh, so that was you the other night," he said, seemingly amused. She wanted to slap him, of all the men to fall in love with, why him? Why in Ra's name it had to be him! "So you already know what's been going on. I actually wanted to know why suddenly you're trying to get married. Is this you're sad attempt at making me jealous?"

"No! It has nothing to do with you. You moved on, I'm just doing the same." She turned away from him, crossing her arms. _Damn it, leave already!_

"What if I told you it's working?" he asked, his voice dropping to a whisper and yet it was mocking. She spun around and glared at him.

"I wouldn't believe you."

"Right, because I betrayed your trust. I'm the one who slipped a potion in your drink and made you a mindless puppet."

"…" she stared at him in disbelief. Why was he here? Why was he jabbing at her? She knew what she did wrong. "Leave me alone. I know what I did."

"So you know whose fault it is that we're in this predicament."

"Ammit! I know what I did!" she yelled, grabbing the attention of some of the people in town. She didn't care. She already had to live with herself knowing it was her fault. Every day, she woke up feeling pain and hurt, empty like she had no purpose. After having been with him for only some months, it was so lonely without him and she knew that the feelings she had weren't ever going to go away and no one, no one could take them away besides him. "I don't need you to point out my mistakes! I'm sorry I messed up! I'm sorry I couldn't just trust you! I'm sorry…!"

He was silent as he stared right in her eyes. "Tell me," he said as she held herself, looking away, "Tell me you don't love me."

"What?"

"Say it."

"I—I can't say that," she turned away from him, walking away but he came after her, coming in her way as she tried to maneuver around him only for him to grab her shoulders and push her back.

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't true…" she muttered

"Then what are you doing? Why are you trying to marry when you still have feelings for someone else?" he asked her. What did he want her to do? Stay single and cry for the rest of her life? No, no, she wasn't going to do that. She would move on, love someone else with her body, even if her heart didn't want it. That's how it'd go. She wanted to ask him if he loved her, but thinking back now, she realized he never once said he did.

"I have to," she responded, moving his hands off her shoulders. "I have to…that's why. I can't just stay here, waiting for something that'd never happen." She was trying to refer to him coming back to her, but she didn't think she got her message across. It didn't matter though; they both were moving on, right? She laughed at herself as she hunched her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Bakura. That's all I can say. If it didn't hurt so much to see you, I'd ask to stay friends…but I can't so goodbye." She turned away from him, not really knowing where she was going but she took off at a sprint to the east, hoping to run into Gamilla or Zaim or someone she knew other than Bakura. "I'm sorry…" she sobbed as she wiped her tears, running straight into someone.

Looking up, she saw that it was Ata, looking concerned with his eyebrows furrowed. She apologized and took a step back, weeping as he came closer to her, wrapping his arms around her in a protective manner. His embrace was cold and yet, a hug was all she needed right now. She didn't hug him back; too busy crying as he patted her head. "It'll be alright," he told her but if he said anything else, it was muted out by her sobbing.

"Meskhenet?" someone said from behind her. She moved away from Ata who let her go as she turned around, rubbing her eyes. She sniffled and saw Gamilla and Neith standing there, the blonde looking concerned while the amber eyed girl looked on expressionless at them. "What happened?" Gamilla shifted her eyes to Ata, "Sir?"

"I—I don't know what's wrong with me," Meskhenet laughed at herself as Gamilla came forward, taking her hands in her own and pulling her away from Ata who she didn't take her eyes off of. "I saw Bakura and…"

"We should go," Gamilla said quickly, looking at her then back at Ata. "Let's go," she placed a comforting hand on Meskhenet's back, leading her towards Neith who stood there, gazing at Ata with a confused look.

"Meskhenet," Ata called and the redhead looked at him. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you." She said nothing, nodding slightly as she left with Gamilla and Neith. She didn't know if she could trust Ata, he was a mystery but Taymur didn't like him and she wanted to trust Taymur. Though, he didn't seem to actually mean any harm…he was the one to admit the sins of his past, not her father or Zaim. Still, she'd have to be weary of him.

"Meskhenet, you're going to learn what it means to have fun outside of that dusty old library of yours," Gamilla tried to cheer her up as she grabbed her wrist and pranced over to the marketplace, a feeling of dread filled Meskhenet as they stepped out onto the open street. Looking around, she didn't see Bakura which was both sad and good for her. "Let's go to the Nile. Lead the way, Neith."

The walk to the Nile was long, at least it felt that way, Neith kept a steady distance ahead of the two, not bothering to talk to Meskhenet and occasionally stealing glances at her like she was some freak. Gamilla prodded and questioned Meskhenet about everything that she had learned so far in her priestess studies, it was a good effort but alas it couldn't take her mind off of Bakura.

"Why does love hurt so much?" Meskhenet sighed, popping the question out of nowhere when they reached the outskirts of town. Neith went on, not bothering to answer. Gamilla patted the redhead on her back, soothingly. Who was she kidding? Gamilla liked Tiahna's lover which must've been hard for her, being friends with Tiahna and all and knowing that the one she loved would never love her back. It was the same now for Meskhenet and she had to say it was rather sad that she realized how much pain Gamilla was in because she was in it too.

"Love's complicated," Gamilla said simply like it was nothing. "You'll have a better man."

"No, I won't," she said miserably.

"Maybe not," Neith said suddenly. Gamilla shot her a glare but the brunette turned to them finally, stopping and placing her hands on her hips. "He's a thief, he wasn't good for you but you're in love, you think he's the world and who knows, maybe he is to you. You can't blame yourself for whatever happened, maybe it was your fault, I don't know, the thing is if he loved you so much he would've given you his world. He would've forgiven you. He didn't. Stop sulking about someone who probably gave less for you than you did for him."

"That's a little harsh, Neith," Gamilla frowned, "But she is right, Meskhenet."

"I'm not saying you're fault free but a relationship isn't solely riding on you to make it work. Come on," she gestured for the two to follow as she continued on. Meskhenet rubbed her arm, feeling just a little better. She didn't think Bakura gave her less than she did for him, he wasn't good at expressing his emotions as well she figured or…the saddest thing being would be that he really did care for her less.

"Thank you, Neith, Gamilla," Meskhenet said, laughing a little. "I shouldn't be sulking…it's depressing. Besides, I'm getting married soon. I shouldn't be worried about lost loves and whatnot."

Gamilla pushed her with her shoulder and offered her a friendly smile which she returned with one of her own. The blonde took her hand and ran off ahead of Neith who looked a bit upset at the two's sudden actions. For once, it was like they were children again, before they stopped being friends, before she became a woman, it felt good to be with someone her age. Laughing and shrieking, the two ran down the banks of the Nile, scaring geese and ibises. The blonde pulled them to a stop, looking around before giving her a devilish grin, stripping off her light tan dress over her head and throwing it aside. Meskhenet covered her mouth, laughing a little as the blonde took off her underwear before jumping into the water. Neith was much slower as she came down to join them, slowly taking off her clothes while Gamilla signaled Meskhenet over.

"The water's great, come on!" she laughed, throwing some water her way.

Meskhenet shook her head, blushing red. "No, I'm not going to strip."

Gamilla brushed her hair back, the water making it cling to her soaked skin. She wasn't as skinny as Meskhenet; she had a perfect amount of flesh on her bones with reasonably sized breasts that were just a little bigger than the redhead's. She had no shame! She didn't bother covering herself up, regardless they were in the open and literally anyone could walk by. Meskhenet wasn't that brave. Neith came over from behind the red haired girl, placing her hands on her shoulders.

"Even if you're not, at least swim with us," and without warning the brunette shoved Meskhenet into the water, making her shriek as she broke the surface. The two other girls laughed as Meskhenet parted her hair from her face, dripping wet. The water was surprisingly cool, feeling great on the skin but thanks to her robe she felt heavy like a horse with his saddle.

"So who was that man? He looked like your master," Neith said, swimming backwards in the water, her goods exposed as Meskhenet brushed the water's surface with her fingertips.

"Ata, Master Zaim's twin brother," Meskhenet replied as she sloshed her way closer to Gamilla who dove into the water, disappearing from view. "He's been in town for some weeks now."

"Is that something you're going for?" Neith asked and Meskhenet snapped her head to the brunette, drifting in the Nile.

 _Ew, gross!_ Ata was practically her uncle even if their blood was thin; he was still family in some way. She wouldn't go for that! Besides, he looked like Zaim and she didn't know how to feel about Zaim, she cared for him and hated him and yet he was something like a mother to her in an odd way, not like her mother, just a mother… "That's disgusting, Neith. Master Zaim's family adopted my mother. He's my uncle."

"Uncle or not, he's handsome," Neith grinned at her mischievously only for the redhead to return a disgusted look at her.

"He looks like Master Zaim," Gamilla piped in from some distance away. "Neith, don't tell me you like him."

"What? No, I just think he's handsome," Neith said. Meskhenet didn't know how to feel about her friends talking about her uncles. Was Neith attracted to Ata? Age gap aside, Zaim and Ata weren't that old, ten years older to be exact but still, she didn't want to think of one of her friends winding up her aunt. She shivered at the thought. "I've always loved the baker's son."

"Kadin?" Gamilla asked, laughing. "Oh, he's handsome alright but he's a bit of a jerk."

"I wasn't aware the baker had a son,' Meskhenet said, drawing circles in the water. "I thought he had three girls."

"Yes and a very beautiful son who he doesn't talk about. He's a fisherman," Neith said haughtily like she was an expert on the baker's family.

"Fisherman?" Meskhenet asked, looking around at the Nile, "So you skinny dipping has anything to do with him maybe coming by to fish in these waters?" Neith didn't reply only laughing. Gamilla gave a face like she thought the idea was repulsive. The blonde swam over to Meskhenet and splashed water at her, laughing. "Stop it."

"Oh, Neith!" Gamilla called as she tore through the water to her best friend, pulling her under. Laughing and wrestling, the two girls swam through the Nile with the blonde chasing the brunette, leaving Meskhenet over there.

She saw the reflection of herself, distorted and broken by the ripples of the Nile. Red hair that had lost some of its straightness over the years, waving in places, her bangs having grown out, she wasn't entirely fond of her hair color and yet she loved it because it was the same as her mother's and brother's. She touched the lids of her eyes, staring back at herself. Never once had she thought herself beautiful and never once had she thought herself ugly and yet, now, seeing herself, she saw nothing more than an insecure, sad and broken person. She hated it. It was ugly. This wasn't what she wanted, but she knew not how to make herself beautiful. She was glad she didn't own a mirror.

"Meskhenet!" Gamilla called over from a distance, waving her over. The redhead shook her head, smiling at her friends as she swam forward, breaking the image of herself.

* * *

Author's note: there isn't another wrong with being flat chested, Meskhenet was drunk and doesn't really think like that. Anyhow, if you'd like to see a picture of Meskhenet, you can go to my charahub: Madillhethen17, I tried linking it to my profile but it ain't showing up? The profile on Meskhenet contains some spoilers so if you don't want spoilers, just look at the pictures and don't read the questions :P. I'll probably post her on my deviantart too...


	23. Chapter XXIII: The Suitor

Chapter XXIII: The Suitor

Meskhenet put the golden hair vine over her hair, she didn't like the dumb accessory, it got all caught and tangled in her hair. It matched her dress that had golden floral designs over the white form fitting gown that was a bit snug on her hips and bust area, probably to emphasize her 'good points'. The sleeves of the dress were shorter than cut sleeves, only covering her shoulders with the sweetheart neckline. For once, she had another pair of shoes, other than the ones Bakura got her; rather she wore white flat shoes with tiny golden circles embedded in it. She was decorated in the most jewels she had ever been in with bangles on her left arm, a choker and arm bands on her biceps. She felt like a walking decoration.

To make things worse, they had put eye shadow on her with a bit of gold, kohl around her eyes (something she didn't often wear) and painted her lips red. It made her feel miserable, all dressed up for some man she didn't know or love. Was this really what she wanted? It was her decision. She looked at the shoes Bakura had given her, set aside with her folded clothes, never to be touched again.

She left her house, sighing as she looked up at the sun but when she went to walk to her doom, she nearly smacked right into Bakura who was checking her out with an amused look, but it hurt her to see him.

"My, you look quite..." He didn't finish and it occurred to her, he never really complimented her. She rubbed her arms, looking away from him. "What's all this for?"

"My fiancé," she replied, stealing a glance at him to see his reaction but there was none. He was merely looking at her still. "I have to go." She brushed passed him, hoping he'd stop her but he didn't. Of course not, it was her fault they were in this predicament; she was the one who slipped the potion in his drink. Forcing herself not to cry, she walked over passed the marketplace and spotted Zaim, leaning in an alleyway staring at her with a disapproving gaze. It sent her heart quivering in anger. He didn't approve of her dreams, her choices, and now this? Why was he always disapproving? What would it take for him to look at her with pride and admiration, with love?! She ran off, leaving Zaim and Bakura behind.

Her fiancé's family was nice and very talkative but she had to admit, she wasn't paying attention to anything they were saying. Her father couldn't make it because well, he had to shepherd the sheep and Nakia and Skylar thought it would be better to let Meskhenet get to know the family. Her fiancé, Ahmed, was a handsome young man, a few years older than her with mid black hair and mesmerizing blue eyes. He was quite fit, wearing robes of light tan and gold. He was rather quiet, looking very serious during the whole meal. She didn't eat much and eventually his family sent them to take a walk out in town so they could get to know one another.

She walked with her hands folded in front of her. Pursing her lips, she smiled at him, trying to find something to say. She twirled her hair in her fingers, growing frustrated at herself for being so quiet. He walked beside her, standing quite taller than her with his hands behind his back.

"Your hair," he finally said, "it's red."

She didn't really like calling her hair red, she didn't like the color red but she was always quite proud of her hair since she inherited it from her mom. "Do you like—"

Before she could even get the words out, he cut in, "I don't like it," he said rather sternly. "It's the color of Set and the desert." Hearing him say that was a little shocking to her, it made her feel awkward. If this was the man she was going to marry, how was she going to live with him if he couldn't even like her hair? Bakura liked red, she wondered if he liked her hair.

"Well...I can change it with magic," she replied. Maybe she'll make it black like his?

"That's another thing," he said, frowning. "I don't want you to be using magic anymore. You're no longer a magician."

"Right..." It was a little annoying to be told what she could or couldn't do, but if she was to marry she supposed this was the price to pay. "Is there anything else I shouldn't be doing?"

"Dancing," he said, "Your master told me you like to dance. Stop that, it's not what proper ladies do and I don't want our children catching any of such habits."

"Children?"

"You like children, yes?"

"Yes, I like children..." She never really saw herself as mother material despite her mother marrying at this age, she did like children though. "My mother was a proper lady and she danced all the time..."

"Your mother was a farmer," he replied as they passed some vendors, "One of the lowest classes in the hierarchy. She wouldn't know any better, but you, you're to marry a soldier and therefore are climbing up the social pyramid. Remember, there are reputations to keep."

"Farming is very important. It helps feed everyone and our god, Osiris was the one who showed our people how to farm..." She replied. "It works well with shepherds and my flock."

"When we marry, you will no longer need to work," he said as if ignoring whatever else she said. A fire burned inside. Ammit, what could she do? He was picky! Ridiculously picky! Bakura may have forced his way to many things, took things without permission but Ra, he never told her what she could or couldn't do. "Of course, you'd be a priestess but when it isn't your time at the temple, I expect you at home."

"What am I to do when I am not working?"

"Raise our children."

Stay home all day? No work? Never in her life had she not worked. From since she was a child, she helped her brother shepherd the sheep, she helped her mother farm and now she was a shepherd. A future where all she did was raising her children sounded boring. She glanced at him. Looking at him from this angle, he looked so handsome but her heart wouldn't beat for him, it didn't ache at the thought of him never loving her or accepting her. It wouldn't feel for him and if it couldn't feel for him, how was she ever to have children with him? She couldn't even have sex with Bakura, the man she did love.

"May I make a suggestion?" She asked, not waiting for him to reply, "Can you stop telling me what I can't do?"

"No," he said bluntly, looking down at her coldly. "This society is run by men, prospered by men, you have no right to speak out against my wishes." So arrogant, men ran the society? She wanted to laugh. Yes, it was true but women bore the children, it was thanks to Isis who resurrected Osiris and raised Horus, the god king of Egypt, that the afterlife and Egypt was the way it was. Ahmed came to a stop near a shaded building, he gestured to the vendors, "Would you like anything to eat? I noticed that you barely touched the food at my house. What do you like?"

"Fruit," she replied, holding herself back from saying something horrible, "Apples."

He looked her over, "just apples? That thin frame of yours isn't good for child bearing." She looked down at her body, she didn't think her body was thin, well, she kind of was thin but the only thing she saw wrong of herself was the size of her breasts.

"Apples," she insisted.

He nodded and walked away to the vendor selling apples. She sighed; she got a handsome man to marry who was an arrogant jerk. Staring at the shadow of the building, she spotted a human silhouette on the roof. Looking up, she saw that it was Bakura who was looking down at her. Not giving him any signs of recognition, she turned back to looking at the street vendors, the contents of her heart spilling over like a knocked over wine cup. She heard a thud noise and suddenly he was walking over to her.

"You look like you need some rescuing," he said with a smirk like everything was a joke to him. Debating on whether to say something or not, she just gave him a forced smile and pretended not to notice him. He came over in front of her, grabbing her elbows. "Come now, Khenet," wherever she looked he came in her way and she felt like hitting him for it. What did he want? Didn't he have some other girl to be with? Bakura looked back and grinned, "Looks like your handsome friend is coming this way."

"He's not my friend. He's my fian—" she didn't get to finish because Bakura crashed his lips against hers with one hand at her waist, the other under her chin. It sent her heart painfully throbbing in the most pleasant way it had ever felt in the last few weeks, along with it, she felt incredibly warm, secure and happy. Closing her eyes, she kissed him right back and felt his lips curl into a smile at the action. All thoughts of the other girl and Ahmed floated away as she deepened the kiss, missing this so much. The warmth of his skin on hers, the feeling of his hands on her body, oh, she wanted this not to end.

When Ahmed got closer to them, he was glaring at Bakura who finally pulled away when both of them were out of breath. He brought her body close to his so that she felt the rapid rise and fall of his chest. With one arm wrapped around her waist, she leaned her head on his exposed chest, breathing in the familiarity of his smell.

"She's furthermore unavailable for your highness," he mocked, giving a salute to Ahmed.

"Get your filthy hands off her, thief," Ahmed said. He had two apples in his hands as he scowled at Bakura.

Bakura clicked his tongue in disapproval, "I'll be taking what's mine," and then he grabbed her hand and they made a mad dash away from Ahmed who didn't even bother to try ad run after them. Meskhenet let out a small laugh as she gripped his hand tighter, making him turn to her and flash a charming smile.

* * *

He fell over her, kissing her passionately while he removed the jewelry off of her much to her relief. His little makeshift home had a bag of his belongings, his clothes folded off to the side with his sleeping area apparently being the large violet rug atop. Some jewelry and other stolen goods on the side near his clothes. His hands brushed her hair, gripping the hair vine before he threw it aside. He snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her body closer to his. She cupped his face in her hands, rubbing her nose against his when he pulled away for them to catch their breaths. He went down to kiss her neck and chest, moving down to over her clothes and kissing her arms and torso.

She felt like a Phoenix resurrected, reborn with all the feelings she had thought she lost during the breakup return and then some. Bakura supported himself over her, staring down at her with a twinkle in his eyes. He was over casted by the moonlight shining brilliantly behind, outlining his light gray hair. His fingers trailed down the length of her dress, finding the hem of it before he ripped a long gap at her side so that her legs were exposed. Slipping his warm hands over her legs, she shivered and blushed, closing her eyes and moaning a bit. His hands went over her dress once more, finding their way to the sides of her breasts. He closed the gap between them, kissing her softly.

She caressed his face and neck, loving his hot body and his touch and just everything. He picked up his pace, kissing and biting, sticking his tongue in her mouth and swirling it around her own. Something ignited in her, she pushed her body forward to his, slipping her fingers through his hair and tilting her head more to the side to allow him a better reach inside. His hands gripped her waist tightly, tantalizingly coming quite close to her breasts at times. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him over her as her heart thumped wildly inside. His knee shot up and hit her nether region which caused her to let out a wanton moan. He pulled away only slightly, smirking at her before kissing her again and moving away so he could move a hand under her skirt which made her face hotter but with her already ragged breathing it was hard to get air in her lungs.

"Bakura," she gulped as she sat up to kiss him near the mouth. "I'm sorry..."

He shushed her, bringing a finger to her lips. "It doesn't matter," he said.

That couldn't be right. He was furious with her; he had been angry at her for some time, in fact, what about the girl she spotted him kissing? Why was he here? She was happy but confused. "Why did you come back?" She asked.

"Why?" He kissed her, "because it's fun."

It was like a bucket of water had just doused the fire inside. Funny? She pulled away from him, furrowing her brows. "Funny?" She asked, "So I'm just a joke to you?" He seemed disappointed by her reaction but she was disappointed by his answer. Pursing her lips, she stood up, brushing her dress from behind. Looking down now, she felt rather bad about the dress, Nakia had given it to her so technically it wasn't hers at all and she had allowed Bakura to rip it, ruining it. "I have to go. My father will probably be worried."

He grabbed her hand roughly, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing, I jus—"

"No, you get like this every time you have a problem. Just spill it!" He snapped angrily, standing up too, but she yanked her hand away.

"Look, I'm tired," she lied, forcing the tears back. She should've known, why else would he have come back? She wasn't worth anything.

"Khenet!" He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to turn to him but out of reflex, she shot her hand out and slapped him which surprised them both. What was wrong with her? She had never hit anyone before. Placing her hands over her mouth, she apologized before running off, leaving Bakura there who touched the side of his face in what seemed to be confusion and anger.

She ran away from him, crying all the way home until she went to her father who was already in bed, reading a book. She threw her arms around him and sobbed hard. When she calmed down, she sank to the floor with her legs to the side, resting her arms and chin on his bedside. "I always make wrong choices," she said miserably.

Her father patted her hand, "Mes, life isn't a simple road we tread. It has obstacles and the right choice is never clear but sometimes the road less traveled may find its own blessings in disguise."

Maybe Bakura wasn't bad, but he certainly was a difficult road. She should apologize to him later, sighing she sniffled. "How did you meet Momma?"

"Hmm?" her father asked, putting his book down at his nightstand. "I've told you this before."

"I know…I just want to hear it again, please…?"

He chuckled, stroking her head as he looked up at the ceiling. She waited for him say something as she took his hand in hers, gripping it tightly. She was a little surprised by the boniness of his hand, it was so thin, she had never noticed. Looking up at her father, she saw the same eyes that she had staring up, but her heart beat slowly inside as she finally came to the realization of just how old her father really was. Wrinkles with his graying white beard and long hair falling down, the right side of his face burned, the skin broken from the smooth pattern of his skin, leaving a redden part of distorted skin almost entirely from around his right eye down to his cheek. It was a shadow of a fire long passed and yet, the scar stayed, never willing to fade with time. He really was old, broken; it hurt her heart to see him like that.

He caught her gaze and smiled at her, closing his eyes. "Well, you're mother was about your age and I was about twice as old. I was quite the looker back in the day," he stroked his beard and chuckled lowly to himself. She smiled, waiting to hear more. "I was still in the Queen's Court back then, but I had been relieved from my priestly duties and so I took some time to travel, get to know myself, study the environments of Egypt and add some nice artwork to my small collection." She remembered he used to paint here and there, but he always kept his pictures hidden as if he didn't want even his children to see them. "I came to Beni Suef, exhausted, I hadn't slept all night and I was really quite hungry. I found myself at the marketplace, buying whatever I could afford to satisfy my hunger and that's when I first met your mother. Her hair caught my attention, she was buying apples and conversing with the seller, but I was quite captivated by the color of her hair. I didn't really know what I was doing; I went over there and approached her, asking for her name without even greeting her.

"Of course, she didn't take well to my ill manners and neither did the seller. She left without giving me her name and I didn't see her for quite a while, but I stayed in Beni Suef to paint the town from the outskirts and there I stumbled upon a home and a farm far away from town. It was harvest season and yet, the farm looked to be in bad shape, you see the wheat of it was late in blooming which made me pity the poor farmer who couldn't sell his crops. So, I looked around, made sure no one was there—of course, I neglected to think someone might have been inside—I summoned my ka, Time Wizard and with just a bit of time, I made the crops ready for harvest." He winked at Meskhenet who giggled. "And then as I was about to leave, your mother came out to thank me, she looked excited and wonderstruck. All I cared about was getting her name though, so I asked for it again and this time she told me: Roheesa. It was from that da— _cough, cough_ —day…" he began to cough violently, placing a bony hand to his mouth as she jumped to her feet, patted him on the back before running off to fetch him some water. She never knew just how old he really was, how ill he was…how did she not notice? His coughing seemed to be getting worse with each attack becoming quite violent and lasting just a bit longer than the last. Upon returning to his room with a cup of water, he was hunched over, holding his chest and wheezing, trying to catch some air.

"Father," she offered the cup of water and he took it, guzzling it down like a wild animal before he put the cup on the nightstand and lay back down in bed, his breath short and ragged.

"Where was I…?" he cleared his throat.

Furrowing her brows, she placed a hand on his arm, "Rest, Father. You can tell me another time," she smiled. He seemed rather disappointed by that but he very subtly nodded, coughing a bit. "Do you need anything? Are you hungry?"

"I am quite alright…Mes," he said, offering a toothy grin but it was disturbed by some more coughing. "I am just tired."

She leaned over and kissed his forehead as he weakly wrapped his arms around her in a light embrace. It broke her heart because the embrace wasn't at all like how it used to be, it was frail and weak, and just a bit reminded her of how Ata's embrace was like death from its coldness. "Good night, Father…" she said, "If you need anything, I'll be in my room."

He merely nodded before sinking in his bed, "Good night, Mes."

When morning arrived, her father was gone and so were the sheep. There was a note from Zaim, telling that her father had left for Thebes and he had taken the sheep out for the day but needed to speak with her about her fiancé. _Right, I ditched him when I just got engaged…_ sighing, she went to her study to pick up the scroll of ka summoning that Halima had given to her. The priestess was quite adamant in getting Meskhenet to summon her ka, in fact, the stern woman had told her in letter form that she would be coming personally to Mallawi just to help her do so. _Too many things happening all at once…_ Rubbing her neck, she went out through the window, heading over to the baker's shop to apologize.

She didn't need to though; Bakura met her halfway through the marketplace, a black scarf with a white flower clip in his hands. He didn't seem to have a reaction when he spotted her but he walked right up to her until there was barely a gap between them. She looked up, forcing a smile before she grabbed the ends of her locks and twirled them in her fingers. "About last night…I'm sorry. I guess I don't really know what I want."

"You don't want to be with me?" he asked, looking her over.

No, it wasn't that, it was just she didn't think she was worth it, him coming back and everything. She didn't want to voice that, it was just another insecurity of hers. She remembered what Mahad said: be open, no secrets, it was hard. She didn't want to be weak, a burden to him, she loved him. There was no denying that. "I want to, I really do."

"Then the issue is…?"

She looked down at her feet, rocking slightly on her heels. "I hurt you, betrayed your trust," she rubbed her arm, "I don't think I'm worth it, you; anything really…"

He was silently looking at her and it killed her. She wished he said something, anything, yelled at her even, but he didn't. After a long pause, he came closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace. That was enough to break her as she sobbed into his chest. Everything that had happened came spilling out, her feelings of their breakup, her insecurities, her dreams, Taymur's death, his new girl. She couldn't keep it in anymore. Weakness or not, she always felt safe and secure with him and just being hugged by him made her feel better. He stroked her hair gently as some people walking by stared at them. He pulled away much to her disappointment.

"Khenet, you can't judge your worth based on the mistakes you make," he told her, wiping her face rather roughly while she sniffled and laughed softly. He hugged her again. "You're worth a lot."

"To whom?" she sobbed, "All I do is make bad choices and stupid mistakes. All I do is screw up…"

"Your father," he replied, tightening his grip around her, "Me."

"You?" she laughed a little, "You said I was a joke."

"No, I didn't," he pulled away, grabbing her shoulders roughly. "I said it was fun and you took it the wrong way. You're not a joke to me. I—you're important to me. You matter to me." She didn't know if she was supposed to believe him, he was kissing some other girl and that wasn't _that_ long ago.

"I want to believe you…"

"But you don't."

"Who was the other girl? The one you were kissing. You moved on, I don't know how to feel…"

"I didn't move on," he growled as he took her hand in his and walked briskly out of the marketplace as to not catch anymore glances and stares from the people. "I'm here. This is enough to tell you that I didn't move on." He stopped when they were at the back of the baker's shop where his rope leading up to his hideout was. He frowned at her when he turned to her; she was looking down, sniffling. He grabbed her face, pulling the sides of her mouth upwards. She groaned and moved away a little, moving hands. "Smile, Khenet, you look better smiling."

"How can I smile? So many things happened," she said downheartedly. He touched her hair. "Who was the other girl?"

"She doesn't matter." Bakura sighed, frustrated. "Come up with me." He tugged on the rope, giving it to her. "We can talk up there." When they were on top, she sat on his violet rug with her legs to the side, looking up at the sky as he sat across from her, staring at her. "What do you want to do?" he asked and for a moment, it reminded her of when he was under the potion. What was he asking her?

"Of what?"

"Between us," he explained, "You want us to start over from scratch, back to being friends?" No, she didn't really want that but if that gave them time to reevaluate their relationship then maybe it was for the better. "I'll tell you what I want. I want you, the way it was before you slipped the damn potion in my drink. I'm not going to say I'll forget what you did and you can't change that. You acted out on your insecurities before the potion and I acted out on my desperate attempt to fill the void you left me after the potion. That's who the other girl was, a tool for me, nothing more."

"I don't want to start over," she told him honestly. "I liked it before. I like i—I love you." He grinned at her as he leaned over and kissed her, moving one hand to the back of her neck as he tilted his head to the side. She closed her eyes, sighing. The pain and everything couldn't be taken away, she felt them but with this, this a fire grew, mending the cracks, leaving scars but scars could be looked over. The flames of love were warm like him, breathing wholeness back into her emptiness against the soft wings of her heart.

Sighing, she pulled away a little, smiling. "I'm sorry," she told him. He placed his hands on her waist and dragged her closer to him until he pulled her onto his lap, hugging her and kissing her neck. It sent a nice warmth throughout her body and making her shiver and laugh. "What now?"

"Tell me everything that happened," he told her, but she wanted to know what happened with him.

"Nothing good," she told him. "I don't really want to speak about it…"

"I would love if you didn't," he said and she laughed a little, thinking about the difference between him and Mahad. Mahad was willing to listen to her despite not really knowing her and yet, here was the man she loved and he was so careless at times. "As much as I would be flattered that my absence caused you to look so miserable, I doubt it so just get whatever you're hiding out. It gives me an excuse to hear your voice." He buried his face in her neck. Those words alone sent her heart beating rapidly and yet softly. It was nice.

"I'm training to be a priestess now because I'm the next Wielder of the Dagger. I'll be joining the Queen's Court when I finish my studies," she lamented. "My father wants it and I don't wish to disappoint him." Bakura squeezed her, placing his hands on her stomach. "He's dead, Taymur's dead because of me…I couldn't protect my own flock. He was my sheep, a part of my flock, I'm the shepherd, I'm supposed to take care of my sheep a-and I couldn't. I know…a lot of people think it's stupid, he was just a sheep, I know but he was so much more to me."

"I think I'm jealous," he said, she turned her head to look at him, smiling as she reached over and placed a hand on his face. Oh, she missed him so much, his sharp blue eyes and his fleece like hair. How could one man look so much like a god? It wasn't fair. "I don't want you to go to Thebes. It's a corrupted place."

"Corrupted?" she asked, furrowing her brows. She heard a lot of things of Thebes, but never corrupted. "What do you mean corrupted?"

"The royal family," he told her like that explained everything. Her father always said the Pharaoh was a good man and almost everyone pretty much thought so too. "Have you ever heard of Kul Elna?"

"You said that was your village," she said, frowning.

"Yes, it was…" he fell silent as he stared off into the distance. It worried her; it was like he was reminiscing about times long gone. He shook his head and buried his face in her neck again.

She placed her hand on his head, "Bakura, I know I don't really have your trust but…I'm here for you. I'm always going to be here for you no matter what."

"I know," he told her, his voice muffled. She pulled back, lifting his head so she could look at his face. He was tormented inside by something she didn't know, it was eating him up and she knew it was the cause of his loneliness, his pain and it had something to do with his village. Not wanting to pry, she kissed him softly like he was a fragile piece of pottery, about to fall apart. "Tell me you want me."

She smiled lightly, "When I'm with you, it's like everything is better," she told him, "You make me whole. You make me complete, you awaken aside of me I never knew I had. Without you, I feel torn like the fate of the world has been ripped apart. Without you, I have no hand to hold. Without you, I'm broken. I love you," she leaned her forehead on his, caressing his face gently. "As selfish as it is, I want you, here with me and forever even if it means leaving everything I know behind."

"You certainly know how to make a man feel wanted," he told her as they both laughed softly. He took her hand in his, kissing it before he placed a hand on her face, it was rough and warm and nice to have back on her skin. She slid his hand near her mouth and kissed it, his palm and fingertips. Feeling a little bold, she licked his fingers, lightly sucking on them while he laughed at her poor attempt of a bold romantic gesture. Blushing and embarrassed, she stopped so she could kiss him on the mouth. Their kiss wasn't fiery or passionate as it was last night, it was sweet and gentle, filled with love and oozing of the light that lit up the darkness, lacking the fire but that was quite alright. She didn't mind if the fire was there or not. This was love.

"I'd like to see Diabound," she told him when they broke away. "I miss him."

"In a moment," he told her, kissing her again and falling over her as he kissed her neck and face. She kissed him on his neck, staring up at the blue sky and closing her eyes. Never again, never again was she going to lose this, him.

The whole day, they spent on top of the baker's shop, talking about anything and everything, holding hands or kissing. When night came, they star gazed just like they did when they were children. It was fantastic, being under the stars again with him like this, pointing out shapes they could imagine from the twinkling lights above. She never really got to see Diabound as they spent most of their time kissing and touching one another, never crossing that line which was fine by her. Eventually she fell asleep and dreamt of Taymur and her mother. It was a nice dream and she wished it lasted longer but alas when morning came, she was awoken by the sudden movement of Bakura beneath her head.

"Hmm?" she groaned, blinking as she sat up just as he did. He was quiet, looking around before he stood up. He went over to the edge of the building, looking down. She rubbed her eyes, hearing excited voices from below. Curious, she got up and stood beside Bakura to see the townspeople gathered around someone, squinting through the distance, she recognized long black hair. The sight shook her awake, oh no! Priestess Halima was here, now?! "I have to go!" she turned and ran but Bakura grabbed her arm.

"Who is that?" he asked, looking back down below.

"My mentor for my priestess studies, she said she was coming to Mallawi to help me with my ka training but I didn't think she'd be here so soon," she slipped her hand out of his and climbed down the rope, dropping down as she ran around the baker's shop to greet the stern woman who was greeting the townspeople one by one, listening to their compliments and greetings. Brushing her hair and dress, she spotted Bakura slowly coming from the backside of the shop, looking at Halima with something of a glare but Meskhenet was pulled from her thoughts when she heard her name called. Turning around, she saw it was Ahmed. _Oh Ra…_

Apparently, Halima must've heard her name called as the black haired woman came her way, the opposite direction from Ahmed. "I have a word for you," Ahmed said as he came right in front of her, glaring down at her. "Where is the thief?" Meskhenet resisted the urge from looking to the side where Bakura was.

"Meskhenet," Halima's gentle voice came from behind her as Meskhenet sighed in defeat. "I hold a message from your father."

Ahmed looked at Halima, but gazed back down at Meskhenet. "You have some explaining to do, but for now I see that you are busy." He gave a curt nod to Halima before walking passed them. Meskhenet sighed in relief as she spun around to face the older woman.

"Hello, Priestess Halima," she greeted, giving a small bow. She signaled Bakura to go as he shifted his gaze from her to Halima but without saying anything, he walked away. "I was not expecting you so soon."

"I cannot be here long," Halima informed her, "There seems to be some trouble up in Minya. I, along with Master Aknadin, was sent to deal with the issue. I will have to meet him. Today however, I am here to help you with your ka summoning."

"What sort of trouble?" Meskhenet asked curious.

"That is not to be discussed, child. We must deal with our own issues right now," Halima offered a gentle smile. "Your father is worried as he received a letter from your Master, telling him of your fiancé and you along with a thief?"

"Oh…I will speak to my father about that when he returns," Meskhenet said sheepishly, embarrassed Halima got word of this.

Halima looked around. "Is there perhaps a quieter place to train, away from the people?"

Meskhenet nodded, "If you would follow me, Priestess Halima," she gestured to the priestess to follow her as they walked through the marketplace. She spotted Gamilla who waved at her while buying apples with Mandisa. She gave them a smile, but sighed. Just when she got to be with Bakura again, someone had to throw a rock in her pond, sending ripples and causing a disturbance.


	24. Chapter XXIV: The Black Book

Chapter XXIV: The Black Book

Here were two problems Meskhenet faced during ka summoning, one – she didn't know what was supposed to go through her mind while summoning because every other thought came in, mainly about Bakura; two – she kept trying to _envision_ her ka, but without a form it was impossible.

Halima stood in front of her, giving her advice. At one point during this training, Meskhenet was able to summon a dark wisp of a cloud before she collapsed and Halima made her do it again. When she asked Halima why she needed to summon her ka so badly, the older woman told her that a personal ka was more valuable than a ka from the Shrine of Wedju because should one ever found them self without a diadhank, they could merely summon their own ka plus it was the strength of the ka that determined the strength of the master. She told Meskhenet that normally people didn't force a ka to appear because their _heka_ was weak, but Meskhenet had a very strong amount of _heka_ therefore should be able to summon her ka.

But the day proved that theory wrong. Meskhenet could not summon her ka for the life of her and she was tired, spent and hungry. Halima came over to her when the sun was at the horizon, "We stop now," she told her and Meskhenet didn't hide her relief when she flopped onto the ground with her arms spread out. "Tomorrow morning I leave for Minya, I had hoped today would bear fruit but I suppose not." She didn't like at all how Halima said that, it was an insult to her and it hurt. She didn't mean to be so…difficult? "We will continue some other time. Rise, child," Meskhenet didn't dare let Halima repeat herself, she jumped to her feet but instantly felt the urge to collapse again.

"Thank you for the time…" she said exhaustedly. Halima merely nodded and started walking before stopping and turning to Meskhenet, apparently waiting for her. The redhead followed after, walking slowly behind as her body and chest ached badly. She really wanted to go home and just collapse in her room but she realized she was going to have to talk to Ahmed as well as face Zaim's wrath for not coming home yesterday and thus subjugating him to shepherd her flock two days in a roll.

When they reached Mallawi, Halima turned to her with her hands neatly folded in front of her. She was a stunning specimen of what a real lady should be, perhaps she could be a little kinder but Meskhenet found the woman to be something like a stern, regal mother who might not have shown as much love as Meskhenet's own mother and yet she seemed to aspire a feeling of admiration from the younger woman.

"I would like to see some improvement by the next time I return," Halima told her, only for Meskhenet to give her a slight, hesitant nod. There was no way she was going to improve, "For now, rest. I will see you again soon." She gave a slight bow before she walked off, leaving Meskhenet there sighing.

She headed home, too tired to care about eating, she felt like collapsing in the warm sand. Ugh, she needed to talk to Ahmed, oh and she should probably let Gamilla know what had been happening. Where was Ata? She hadn't seen him around. When she got to her house, her hand on the knob, she realized her father still wasn't home and for some reason, it felt sad and lonely there without him. Maybe it was the fact that she lost Hakim, her mother and Taymur and seeing how her dad was last night, it just felt like she was alone without him. Hugging herself, she walked toward the marketplace to head over to the baker's shop.

"I believe your house is the other way," someone said from behind her. Turning, she saw Ahmed, standing near a closed street vendor with his hands behind his back. Oh Ra, she didn't want to see him now. "Are you off looking for your thief?"

"I'm sorry," Meskhenet said, not really sorry at all. "But I have made my choice. I'm not marrying you."

Ahmed narrowed his eyes at her, walking closer until he came right in front of her, leaning down, leering at her. "And you think I will just be fine by this? Your engagement to me was arranged by my parents and your master. You don't have a saying in the matter."

"I do," she said, growing slightly angry. "I told him I wanted to marry. I can just retract that. Why does it even matter to you? You don't like my hair or…or anything about me!"

He low out a low rumble which she realized was a chuckle as he smirked down at her, "And the thief does? Tell me, what exactly does a girl like you have to offer any thief?" She didn't really have an answer for that. She could offer comfort, love, nothing materialistic if that was what he was trying to imply. "You have nothing," and yet his eyes shifted down her body in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. She took a step back, holding herself tighter.

"I may not have gold, but I can give him comfort and love," she said, turning a bit away.

"As can any woman," Ahmed replied, his eyes lingering down at her stomach. "You have something much more valuable to me. Reputation, connections, once you become a priestess and join the Queen's Court, you'll have access to places and people, those others would normally not. Perhaps the thief is the same. Perhaps he just wants you for these connections."

"Bakura's not like that. He's not you!" she said angrily. If she wasn't so tired she would've yelled at him, but she couldn't, it exerted too much energy. "He likes me for who I am. He doesn't care about my job."

"You think you know a man because he can whisper sweet nothingness to you?" he reached a hand out and grabbed her arm, a little too close to her breast for her comfort. His grip was tight and he was pulling her towards him, it hurt and without any strength she couldn't fight him off despite having magic. "No, he's not like me. He's worse. He's a thief. He'll steal what he can regardless of who gets hurt, you're not an exception. Your value to him comes in physical form." He laid a hand on her waist and her heart froze in place as his hand slid down to her hip, his touch turned to a hard grip as she struggled to pull away.

"Let go…you freak!" she tried summoning her magic but he clamped a hand over her mouth so she wasn't able to say the incantation.

"Excuse me, sir," someone said as they laid a hand on Ahmed's shoulder. He instantly let her go as he turned around while she took several steps back, holding her mouth and thinking what spell to use on him. "I believe the young lady doesn't want anything to do with you."

"Master Zaim," Ahmed said as he took a step back, bowing his head. Meskhenet glared at him, damn it, none of her magic was working as she tried summoning fire or water or…looking over to the man who had just saved her from who knows what, she realized it was Ata, not Zaim. "I must apologize; it isn't what it looked like."

"I think it was exactly what it looked like," Ata smiled, but it held a sinister air about it. "I'll keep my mouth shut for the benefit of the doubt, but don't let it happen again." Ahmed was silent as he glanced at her while she scowled at him; he merely nodded his head and walked off. She needed to have a word with Zaim about her engagement. Sighing, she wiped her mouth where he had clamped his hand on, spitting on the ground in disgust. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you…" she tried to smile. Ata wasn't really that bad, maybe he did things questionably and had to be kept a distance away, but with improvement she thought he could be quite a friend, perhaps.

"If I recall you live the other way," he said, not moving from where he stood. "Would you like me to walk you home?"

"Oh, no," she replied, looking back where she was headed. "I was heading over to Bakura's place."

"Bakura?" he cocked his head to the side in curiosity. Right, he didn't know who Bakura was.

"My…lover," she replied, quite certain that's what they were now. "We're together again," she bit her lip in slight embarrassment.

Ata smiled, "I'd love to meet him."

That wasn't going to happen. Ata might have had his friendly moments but she didn't trust him one hundred percent, besides he was the one who gave her the love potion. If Bakura met him who knew what he could do? She didn't believe Bakura was capable of harm, but he had killed Zaabit… "I don't think that's a good idea," she said, "I have to go now. Thank you again."

"Perhaps another time," he nodded in understanding, "Take care of yourself." She turned around but before she walked away, he called out to her. "Could you perhaps do me a favor?" She looked back to see him producing something out of thin air. "Can you take care of this for me?" he offered the book to her and she could see it was a black bounded book, looking a bit old but otherwise in good shape.

"What is it?" she asked wearily, ready to run if she needed to though she doubted she'd get far.

"Take a look," he said. She inched near him, tentatively taking the book into her hands and opening it. Nothing, there was absolutely nothing in it, completely blank. "I just don't want to lose it among my other books. In fact, you can have it, you can use for whatever you want."

Something about the book didn't feel right. It was blank and yet she felt like it held so much information, hidden from the world. "I don't really need a new book," she forced a smiled, handing it back to him but he pushed it towards her.

"At least put it in a safe place for me until I need it again. Please?"

"I…" before she even got the words out, he placed a cold hand on her head, patting her red hair then walking away with a small wave. She looked at the book then at him but by the time she called to him, he was already gone. Not sure what to do, she took the book with her to the baker's shop where she went to the back but saw no rope. "Bakura!" she called and instantly a rope flung down nearly smacking her in the face. She climbed up to find Bakura slouching around; eating what looked to be an onion.

"How was it?" he asked, though seeming uninterested. She noticed he had a lot more gold than before, he probably went tomb robbing. She pulled the rope up, neatly coiling it in a nice circle before she crawled over to him, putting the book aside as he opened an arm for her to lean on his chest.

"Pathetic," she replied, "I couldn't summon my ka. I'm beat and hungry and I just want to sleep…" he stroked her hair and offered her his onion. She scrunched up her nose at the smell, but Ra, she was too hungry. She bit into the onion, its juices flowing down her chin as the salty, acidic taste filled her mouth. Yuck! It was so bitter, how was he eating this?

"Have you tried doing what I told you to?"

"Focusing on my loved ones?" she asked, though she knew that was exactly what he meant. "Yes, it hasn't done much for me. I get distracted and with everything that's happened, I can't exactly focus."

"Hmm," he said, taking a large bite of the onion. "Did you want to go somewhere to eat? You said you were hungry."

"Hmm, I'm too tired," she said, nuzzling her face in his chest. "I think I'm a failure… I can't summon my ka and Priestess Halima wants me to have some improvement by the next time I see her which is I don't know when and I don't know what 'some improvement' means, I mean why is it so hard to summon my ka? She said I have a strong _heka_."

Bakura was silent, but he suddenly moved, letting her fall onto the hard roof as he sat up and looked her over, a devilish smirk creeping onto his lips. "My ka was forced out by my strong emotions of hatred and anger. Perhaps…" he trailed off, looking her over again. She didn't like his look, however it didn't make her feel uncomfortable like Ahmed's, in fact he made her blush and look away. "What if," he moved his hand over her abdomen, skimming it upper on her body, "We had sex and all your feelings of love caused a reaction in you to summon your ka."

"Oh Ra!" she shrieked, laughing as she moved his hand away and rolling a little ways off. "No! No, I don't think that works that way!" oh, he just made her embarrassed a hundred times over. She covered her face that was heating up and red like her hair now. He burst out laughing at her while she hugged herself. She knew he was joking, but she knew deep down a part of both of them wanted it which made her question herself of why they were waiting. Feeling shy suddenly, she glanced at him as he finished his onion, "Do you…want to have sex with me?"

He became quiet as he looked at her, serious now. She didn't really know what she was doing or why she was asking that question but somewhere inside, she wanted him and as much as she tried to bury that, sometimes it just surfaced like now. She reached a hand over to her sleeve, slowly beginning to pull it down. He watched her which only made her face hotter but she didn't stop. He got up and walked over to her before he sat down on his knees in front of her, placing a hand on her face and making her look at him.

"Yes," he answered and he leaned into her, kissing her deeply, tasting of onion. Whatever restraints in her exploded, breaking and letting the wildfire inside of her escape as their kiss quickly ignited into a fiery, passionate kiss. He lied her gently down on her back, climbing over to her as she helped him out of his tunic, throwing it aside as he came over her, kissing her with his warm lips before they traveled down to her neck. She let her hands wonder his shoulders and back as she arched her back when he bit her here and there. She could feel herself becoming warm and moist down below, a feeling she wasn't proud of at all, it was unfamiliar to her and yet Bakura was the only one who gave her this sensation. His hands gripped her waist, moving upper until they found her breasts which made her jolt a bit at the strange touch. He gripped her hard at her breasts, fondling them through her dress. She wished it hadn't been in the way because she really, really wanted to feel his rough hands over her womanly mounds.

Her breathing was getting ragged just from his touches and kisses, oh, there was electricity in the air that was causing her to heat up badly and yet she needed, wanted his warmth. She wanted both of their bare bodies to touch one another. His hands glided down to her legs, slipping into the gaps in the sides to take hold beneath her thighs, slowly positioning himself between her legs, widening them enough so that he was comfortable over her in the most erotic way they had even been in. She could feel herself getting wetter and she could feel him literarily right over her, pressing himself against her female part. If it hadn't been for their clothes, they might have already done it.

Her thoughts were running wild. This was too soon. What if she got pregnant? Was Ahmed right? Did Bakura just want her body? Didn't they just get back together yesterday? Was it wrong for her to want this from the man she loved? What if her father found out, what if Zaim found out? Oh no, they were on the baker's shop, there were people below, would they hear what was going on up here?

Despite her thoughts, her body had a mind of its own as she tightly squeezed him between her thighs, her hand reaching over to caress his face when he pulled away from his biting and kissing. For a long moment, they stared each other in the eyes. Brown to blue, blue to brown and there was one thing for certain, they both really wanted this and they were both quite sure that the person below him, the person above her was the one they wanted to do it with. And yet beneath the passion, love and lust, she could see hesitation in his eyes and she knew she had the same mirrored reluctance in hers.

"Bakura…" she said, brushing her fingers through his hair. "What do you think of my hair…?"

"It's beautiful," he told her, his eyes searching hers for a confirmative answer as to whether they should move forward with this act of love.

"And my eyes?"

"Lovely."

"And my body?"

"Perfect."

And yet despite all that, despite his kingly glory, neither of them could make themselves follow through with the lust that was building at them. She didn't know his reasons, she only knew hers. She was afraid of many things, knowing she made wrong choices and it hurt her to admit it but this seemed to be one of them.

Placing her hands on his shoulders, she slowly pushed him upwards as he rose up. They both were silent as she began to play with her hair. Why didn't he want it? She wanted to know because he was always so pushy, forceful, why didn't he just follow through? She knew if he had, she wouldn't have said no, she wouldn't have hesitated and yet, he had hesitated which only made her reluctance grow. What exactly was stopping them?

"I'm sorry…" she told him afraid that perhaps there was something wrong with her that prevented him from wanting her.

He said nothing as he got up, looking up at the dark sky now. "I don't know why…" he muttered to himself before he looked down, "I want you."

"As do I…"

He took a seat beside her, staring off into the distance. She glanced at him, not sure what to do now. Maybe this wasn't meant to be…no, that couldn't be right. She knew he was the one. She knew she wanted him so badly it hurt. He was the only one who made her feel the way she did then why couldn't they do it?

She leaned over him, touching his arm while pressing her breasts against his chest. He looked at her, brushing her hair out of her face. "Did I do something wrong…?" she asked him, trying to figure out why he hadn't just pushed a little more. She was fragile, ready to break, all that needed to be done was him to push a little harder.

"No," he replied with confidence. "You haven't done anything. We're not ready for this yet." He ran his fingers through her hair and leaned his forehead down onto hers as he stared deep into her eyes. She loved his eyes; they made her feel like she was gliding because the way he looked at her, she knew he loved her. They were beautiful. He moved his hand down to her back as he leaned back to lay on the floor, bringing her down next to him. "We should sleep."

"Yes…" she replied, suddenly feeling exhausted. Sleep took over her as the heaviness in her eyelids increased. "I love you…" was the last thing she whispered before she drifted off to the dream world.

* * *

Life resumed like it should've, Bakura coming here and there, their moments of interaction were never as heated as that one time but they weren't unpleasant, if anything they made her feel closer to him by the small moments they had with one another. She got a good earful of a lecture from Zaim and when she tried to tell him of Ahmed, he didn't want to hear it because he was determined to believe that if she got to spend more time with Ahmed she would fall in love with him and leave Bakura. That wasn't happening.

Summoning her ka was not going well at all. She just couldn't get it which was making her overly depressed about it. When her father came home, he tried encouraging her by coming along with her to the Nile and summoning the Time Wizard to cheer her on. Bakura eventually did the same, but regardless of Diabound and the Time Wizard, she couldn't summon her ka and never came as close as she did the day Halima tried.

One day, Bakura came to the Nile when she and her father were talking about Ahmed as her father had just come from discussing her engagement to the soldier. Unfortunately, his family wanted her father to get to know Ahmed and make a decision and her father being the kind and patient man he was, didn't deny him before giving him a chance. So today around dinner time, she was going to have to have dinner with her father and Ahmed much to her disgust.

"I already made my decision," she told him as Bakura sat down next to her father, a book in his hand. "I don't want to marry Ahmed."

"I know, Mes, but I can't very well deny the young man until I get to know him," her father coughed a bit and it made her sad. He was so weak and thin, it was bothersome. It seemed like he had lost weight and that every time he had food with him, he had to literarily force himself to eat but only in small portions.

"You need to see a doctor," she told him, frowning. This wasn't the first time she told him, in fact, she had told him multiple times and Zaim had too. The two of them had even made the doctor visit her father since he was so stubborn. The doctor told her that he was alright, just had a cough because of his old age. She didn't believe him.

"Don't change the subject to me. Ahmed is coming over tonight and I will hopefully make a decision tomorrow," he stroked his beard. What did he mean if he approved of Ahmed? She was supposed to leave Bakura? She wasn't going to do that.

She glanced at Bakura who was flipping through the book. "You would ask me to give up the person I love too? Was my dreams not enough?"

Her father glanced at her, frowning. "I did not want you to give up your dream. This is the better option for you."

"I only want to make you happy, Father," she muttered but her compliance to becoming the Wielder of the Dagger was only out of duty. She had no heart for it.

"I want to see you taken care of, that is all," he mumbled softly, giving her a kind smile. _You used to say you wanted my happiness. What changed?_ She loved her father so much so it broke her heart knowing that if he chose Ahmed over Bakura, she was going to run away with Bakura and leave everything behind including her priestess training. That was the decision she had come upon on her own. Her father glanced at Bakura, "I hope that doesn't bother you."

"Of course not," Bakura said with complete sarcasm. Her father didn't seem to notice, only nodding before standing up and stretching. "Everything can be stolen; your daughter's not an exception."

"I'm not an item," she told Bakura, a bit offended. "I can't be stolen."

Her father chuckled as he sat down again. The new ram came over to him, biting at his robes. "Of course you're not. I think 'kidnapped' is the appropriate word. What have you got there?" he asked, noticing the book. He stared at it like he recognized it. Bakura flipped it over to show it to him only for him to move away slightly, glaring at it like it had just offended him with its presence. "Where did you get that?"

Looking at it closely, Meskhenet saw that it was the book Ata had given her. Oh, that's right; she left it at Bakura's place. Bakura shrugged and looked at her which made her father angrily turned to her. He snatched the book and stood up. This was the second time she had seen him angry in a long time, first the time when Zaim wanted to speak about her becoming a wielder and now this. She took a step back out of reflex as her father waved the book in front of her.

"Where did you get this?!"

"I—" but before she could answer, he hunched over and started coughing. She placed her hands on his shoulders to support him before she gently sat him back down. Bakura eyed the book then shifted his glance to her. Could she really just say Ata gave it to her? He told her to stay away and she had disobeyed him.

"Ata gave it to you, did he not?" her father coughed.

"Yes…"

"I told you to stay away from him and after everything that happened in Beni Suef…"

"What is he talking about?" Bakura asked. Oh no, she hadn't told Bakura about who gave her the love potion. Her heart dropped as she bit her lip. "What happened in Beni Suef?"

Glancing at Bakura, she looked away and frowned, gripping her arm tightly. "Ata gave me the love potion and Ata gave me the book. There isn't anything in it, Father; it's just a bo—"

"Ata cannot be trusted," her father said with finality.

"I know, I don't…not entirely but he's not bad I thi—"

Bakura was silently watching her and she knew he was angry. She didn't need to deal with them both mad at her, but she screwed up again. "Ata is not to be trusted. He is not a friend regardless of his blood ties. He is dangerous, he— _cough, cough, cough_ …!" her father heaved as he tried calming down to catch his breath.

"He told me what he did," she muttered quietly. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

Her father sighed, "I must speak with Zaim." He stood up, the book still in hand, not acknowledging what she said. "Bring in the sheep early so you can prepare dinner for Ahmed." And with that he turned on his heel and left, leaving her there with a silent Bakura.

Glancing at him, she sighed, throwing her arms in the air and walking away. "Well, I suppose you're angry at me too. If you have something to say, keep it to yourself. I don't want to hear it."

"I want to know who this Ata person is," he said lowly.

"I don't want to talk about it," she told him, walking over to a group of ewes who were grazing on some patches of grass. She scrapped up dirt with her shoes, picking the earth with her crook. Bakura came over from behind her and she turned to him. "I kind of want to be alone, please…"

He brushed her hair which made her blush, unfortunately she was too focused on the fact her father was disappointed in her again. She was also too distracted at the fact she had to make Ahmed dinner. She leaned her head on Bakura's chest as he gripped her hand in his, "If my father chooses Ahmed…I won't marry him. We can run away together, far away…"

"You'll disappoint your father," he told her.

"So you want me to marry him?!" she asked angrily. She didn't want to disappoint her father, it hurt her whenever he was disappointed or whenever he was angry but she didn't want to marry Ahmed because she loved Bakura. She crossed her arms and glared at him, the damn jerk, what did he expect her to do? Turning away from him, she vigorously kicked up dirt until a large patch of it flung by and scattered the ewes that moved elsewhere to get their fill.

Bakura let out a laugh which only served to annoy her further. "We can always spite them," he suggested, placing his hands on her waist. Something about that comment she found highly suggestive, perhaps it was the way he touch her, slowly moving them down.

"So they can call me a whore?" she tried to keep a straight face but she couldn't as he stopped, leaning his face near her neck. His hot breath tickled her as she let out a low giggle.

"You can always marry Ahmed and we can have our own nightly escapades," he suggested, one hand reaching over to her chin, lifting it up and moving her head slightly to the side as he kissed her neck while his other hand teasingly brushed her breasts.

"No," she wiggled herself out of his hold, stumbling out and turning to him. "I'm content with running away. I don't want him touching me."

"He won't," Bakura told her. She just shook her head and sighed, gazing up at the clear sky. Some birds flew up, wings against the sapphire sky, nothing but specks in the distance as they floated on by. Wouldn't it have been easy just to be a bird? She heard a hissing sound and looked down to see Diabound, slithering through the grass to appear at her feet, his little white wings tucked in on his sides.

"Well, hello there," she greeted, bending down to pet the snake that seemed pleased when she touched him. "Why are you summoning Diabound? I'm not going to try and summon my ka. I have dinner with Ahmed and I don't think I need to be anymore exhausted than what I will be."

Bakura merely gave her a mischievous smile, "He's going to watch the sheep."

"That's what I'm here for," she smiled, furrowing her brows as she glanced at Diabound who already seemed to be on guard. Bakura grabbed her elbow and began pulling her aside to some trees not too far away. "What are you doing?" she got the feeling she knew what he was doing, but she just wanted to hear him say it for clarification.

He didn't answer her, rather when they were safely away in the shades of the trees; he went on kissing her, making out until they eventually rolled on the ground. He had asked if he could touch her breasts and other places, making vulgar comments here and there but she denied him only then to ask if she could touch him which made him laugh. He gave a very firm answer as to "another time" before the two of them continued to make out which lasted a long time until she had to take the sheep back home as the sun was going to get low soon and she needed to prepare something for Ahmed and her father.

Stumbling out of the trees, her hair a mess and clothes dirty and wrinkled, she blew Bakura a kiss before running over to her sheep where Diabound had kept an eye out. She quickly gave the snake a light kiss on the head before she called her sheep and headed home. Brushing her dress, she sighed longingly, looking back at the Nile where Bakura had been. There was no denying it, Bakura was the one and no matter what anybody said, nothing was going to change that.

It had been a long time since she had made dinner for anyone what with her father's refusal to eat and never having much guests, she barely cooked besides for herself. With not enough money to buy meat, she had to prepare a nearly vegetarian dinner with the only exception being a few fish Nakia had given them. She set the table which had no chairs, being low to the ground so that they had to sit on the floor to eat. Her father and she barely used the table, both eating at different times, her mainly in her study and him in his bedroom but today they got to use it. Her father was already at the head of the table, unusually quiet probably because of earlier. When she finished setting the table and preparing dinner, she was about to sit down but her father frowned at her.

"Mes, change your clothes and brush your hair," he told her, "You look like you just woke up."

She scurried off to her room just as a knock came over at their front door. She quickly threw off her dress, grabbing a white dress that had an asymmetrical neckline, a bit form fitting with a bronze belt. Quickly, she brushed her hair with her fingers before she went to get the door but she saw her father had already gotten it and Ahmed was there at the table, sitting to the left of her father, wearing a light tan tunic and shendyt with his soldier headpiece on. She took her seat across from him, not offering a greeting.

"Hello, Meskhenet," he greeted, but she gave him a fake smile. "Yaqeen, I mean this in the most respectful way as possible, but I hold no feelings for your daughter. My marriage to her will be nothing but socially beneficial for the both of us."

"I am well aware of this," her father nodded. She rolled her eyes slightly, looking away. Socially beneficial, she wanted to laugh. "Marriages are not always based on love. I hope in time that perhaps a union such as this would blossom into one." Meskhenet stared at her father sadly; he made it sound like he had already made his decision. But she had already made hers. "Mes, if you could, please pour Ahmed some wine."

"I think Ahmed has hands enough to do so himself," she said, not trying to hide her rudeness. Her father sighed and Ahmed merely frowned. "But as host, I suppose it is my duty." She stood up and picked up the bottle of wine, pouring some for him and her father, excluding herself. "What if I decide not to become a priestess? Are we going to end up divorced?"

"It was under my assumption that this wasn't an option for you," Ahmed gave her a cruel smile, making her blink at him. Oh, she wanted to slap him. "A union between a man and a woman out of duty and social acceleration is not uncommon, Meskhenet. Yours and mine will be no different."

"Normally, my daughter isn't so rude," her father coughed. She said nothing as she sipped some water. "The problem with your marriage is the fact it conflicts with my daughter's heart, you see she is in love with another."

She flashed Ahmed a mocking smile, but he merely raised his cup to his lips, taking a small sip of wine. "Yes, the thief."

She remembered what Bakura said about spiting them, about nightly escapades. Glancing to her father, she bit her lip. Oh, this was going to land her in trouble. "Say I do marry you," she said a bit hesitant, "Since it's not out of love, I can just have a false marriage and at home we can do our own things, me with Bakura and you with another girl."

Her father frowned at her while Ahmed chuckled. "Oh, you misunderstand me. I hold no love for you, Meskhenet, but that doesn't mean I want some other man touching you. Once you're my wife, you are mine and will bare my children."

"I'm offended you'd suggest such a thing, Mes," her father said. "Is this what Bakura suggested?" she didn't answer because he'd know she was lying.

"It was just a thought," she muttered quietly. The attention was turned to her father where Ahmed continued to speak with him about his job which surprised her because her father never spoke so much of his job as he did now and it made her sad to know he seemed to be bonding with Ahmed. She was doomed! She silently ate her food, her stomach feeling like a pit of snakes, hissing and coiling inside. It felt disgusting. Occasionally, one of the two would drag her into their conversation only for her to miserably make a comment here and there.

As time passed, the sun outside was beginning to disappear while night took over, leading the shining stars out to twinkle in the dark as a fading hope for the lost and wanted, it seemed so much better outside than inside tonight. Sighing, she ate a slice of an apple as she heard the door to her study open without closing and before long, in strode Bakura, dressed in a simple light tan tunic with a rope tied around his waist. Ahmed and her father eyed him, the former with annoyance and the latter with amusement while she stared dumbstruck at him as to why he was here.

He sat next to her at the head of the table across from her father, helping himself to her food. Ahmed glared at her like it was her fault he was here, "Is this a joke?"

"Apparently," her father mused, eating a grape.

"This wasn't me," she said, raising her hands in defense before shooting Bakura a look. _What in Ra's name are you doing here?!_ "Bakura, I told you we were having dinner with Ahmed."

"Yes, you did," Bakura replied, stuffing his mouth with a piece of bread. No, she remembered his atrocious table manners, quickly glancing at her father, she prodded Bakura's arm, slapping his hands from taking anymore of her food. He apparently thought she wanted him to introduce himself to Ahmed as he turned to the black haired man, "Bakura. I know who you are; she's told me about you, nothing good."

"And the town's told me about you, nothing good," Ahmed mimicked, glowering at Bakura who paid him no heed. "Yaqeen, I don't appreciate the thief being here."

"His name's Bakura," Meskhenet said, grabbing Bakura by the arm as he finished her apple slices. "A word, please?" she said, getting up and dragging him with her until they were in her room. He was still eating; looking down at her while she closed the door. "What are you doing?!"

"Rescuing you," he replied with his mouthful. She slapped a hand to her face. Dear Ra…

"I don't need to be _rescued_!"

"No? Then perhaps stolen," he said, smirking at her.

"Bakura, why are you doing this?"

"You want to marry him?"

"Argh! No! I want to marry you!" she clamped her hands over her mouth as Bakura quirked an eyebrow at her, smiling. Blushing embarrassedly, she looked down at her feet. No, she didn't want him to hear that…she didn't know his feelings over marriage or if he thought this was real. What if he didn't want to marry her? She glanced at him only to have him suddenly move her hands away from her mouth, caressing her face he quickly kissed her, once, twice and then some more until they grew longer and she ended up slamming into her door as he deepened the kisses.

"I know you want me," he smirked at her, placing his fingers under her chin.

"Only you," she told him, leaning her forehead against him. "I don't want to marry Ahmed…"

"You won't," he told her before taking her hand and dragging her back out there where Ahmed seemed to be in deep conversation with her father but when they came and took their seats quite close to each other, Ahmed became silent, judging them in his quiet demeanor. "Yaqeen," Bakura started, but her father held up his hand.

"My decision will be reached tomorrow," he said to the two.

"Regardless," Bakura told him, locking gaze with him in a firm and decisive manner. Oh, wow, he was so handsome. Meskhenet couldn't keep her eyes off of him as she gripped his hand tighter in hers. "I want your daughter and whether you make a decision against me, I will have her even if it means taking her away."

"Kidnapping is a crime," Ahmed told him, "As is stealing. I can have you arrested for your previous crimes."

"You can't," Meskhenet said, "You haven't seen him do anything."

"But others have."

"Father," she said, glaring at Ahmed. Her father seemed to be thinking. He knew her answer, why didn't he just go through with it? Did he really think she had a better life with Ahmed, a man she could never love? "My decision has already been made." Her father gave her a sad look and she knew his decision had already been made. He was going to choose Ahmed. This was her fault. She had asked for this, but it was just a stupid mistake. She had Bakura now. Something surged inside of her and she felt the fire within, burning at her heart as the anger rose, "You'll have me marry a soldier?"

"Nothing is wrong with that, Mes," her father said, sighing and coughing a bit. "Your brother was a soldier."

"You sent your son to die!" she shouted.

"Your brother served Egypt. It was an honor to die fighting alongside the Pharaoh," her father said.

"An honor?" she laughed, "An honor? It drove Momma mad…you know that."

"Mes, we will discuss this later. I will make my decision then. Ahmed, please," he weakly stood up and Ahmed did too. "Mes, go to your room. Bakura, I would like a word, please." He and Ahmed went out the door while Bakura looked to her, kissing her lightly on the lips before she nuzzled her face in his neck.

"He made his decision," she told Bakura sadly. Bakura merely squeezed her hand before kissing it.

"It's not too late to change his mind," he told her, standing up and bringing her with him. She gave him a sad smile. Maybe she was being too pushy, rushing things. Was Bakura going along with this because he loved her? Was this what he wanted? She didn't know and she was afraid of asking him so instead she gave him a sweet peck on the cheek, telling him goodnight before she left to her room, giving him one last smile before she disappeared around the corner.

This was all her fault. If only she hadn't rushed her relationship because of her breakup. Now she was in this mess. It seemed like not so very long ago that he had been happy for the two and now he seemed reluctant for her to be with Bakura. What happened? What changed? Not her breakup, was it? She didn't know. It was so tiring just to think about it. Sighing, she changed her clothes and lied down in her bed of sheets, thinking of Taymur and dreaming that her ka was a handsome ram like Taymur which made her giggle in her sleep. How could she have a ram for a ka?

The dream world was only pleasant for a brief moment before it turned to the worse. She dreamt of Zaabit and Apep and the scene of Bakura kissing the other girl haunted her while Taymur cried for help, eventually she awoke with a jolt, sweating and gasping as she looked around. It was still dark. The sun wasn't out, but she was unable to go back to sleep so instead she got a clean pair of clothes and headed down to the canals to bathe.

The canals were located towards the back of town, a bit near the Nile, surrounded by tall trees and croplands, but thankfully the farmers didn't plant their crops with the canal waters, rather from the wells built near their land. Gamilla's place was around here, the tiger nut farm where her brother was to inherit, but Meskhenet hadn't been there in a quite a while. In fact, she still hadn't told Gamilla that she and Bakura were back together. She should probably pay her friend a visit today or so. The song of night played with some of the animals making their music, scurrying about or chirping and squawking. The steady stream of the canals, sloshing just a bit when one got near. It was so quiet in the dark, lonely but Meskhenet liked it this way. Bathing with others was just so uncomfortable to her. She thought of Bakura and his offer to bathe with him so long ago. Blushing, she wondered if he'd ever ask her again and whether or not in the future she'd ever say yes.

She bathed there, slowly exfoliating the dirt and washing her skin in the waters under the moonlight. Her mind was tormented by thoughts of Apep and the snakes, oh, she hated snakes except Diabound. She liked Diabound, maybe because she loved Bakura. In the dark of the night, it made her skin crawl to think of if the sun never rose again because Apep ate Ra, the light and everything good. How bad would the farmlands become? No crops would be grown and so the cattle would die and if the cattle die, Egypt would die…what a sad thought. She shivered and held herself there. It was a foreboding thought that left her with an ominous feeling which she recognized as the same feeling she had when she thought of joining the Queen's Court. Why did it seem so bad? Sure, she didn't want it but that just wasn't it. The idea was miserable, but the feeling of it was scary, frightening, it made her shiver, the same way Ata's sinister smile did. Ata was just like the Court, both seemed to be good on the surface and yet there were secrets about them, Mahad said so about the Court. What secrets did the Court hold? Would she learn of these secrets? Ata told her his… _Resurrection,_ that's what Ata attempted in the past. It made her curious as to how he had attempted this, did he succeed? Why had he dug so far in dark magic to want to resurrect someone? Did he want to make things better as she did?

 _No more, Meskhenet…these thoughts are bad for you…_ yes, she'd prefer to think of the problem at hand right now: her ka summoning and her future life with possibly Ahmed or Bakura. _Right, you told Bakura you wanted to marry him. Stupid… too soon, it's too soon._

"The black book," a monotone voice said as Meskhenet frantically looked around, the voice pulling her from her thoughts as she quickly washed herself and slipped on her new clothes, running over behind a nearby well, her dripping wet hair soaking a part of her clothes as she quietly wrung out the water, listening carefully as she recognized the monotone voice as one of Ata's followers. The woman who had threatened her with magic, she hadn't seen any of his lackeys with him in forever but he had mentioned that they were his companions. "He gave it away."

"To whom?" another woman's voice spoke, this one had emotion and she sounded quite upset. "How can we recover what he lost if he just gave it away? He's becoming quite soft."

"Do not judge the master," the monotone woman said.

Meskhenet peeked over the side of the well to see the two women dressed in their hoods as she had last seen them, both of their faces covered but the monotone woman was clearly taller than the other. They were alone, no Ata and no darter with them. They hadn't seemed to notice her.

"Ata may be your master but he's not mine. I serve the Dark Lord. I'll question Ata as I see fit. Who did he give the book to?"

"The girl." She knew that they were talking about her. Ata had given her a black book. It was empty when she had looked inside, but what was it for? Her father had it now. "He believes she can help us."

The other woman scoffed, "That girl is useless. With Zaim's influence on her, she'll be better dead to us. We're missing a piece in the puzzle…our catalyst, Zaim's apprentice isn't it."

"You believe otherwise?"

"I _know_ otherwise. The oracl—" before she could finish, the sounds of the cattle waking seemed to have startled the two as a distant noise of a door closing shushed them. "We should go." And with that the two left, not noticing the redhead behind the well. She understood little of their conversation, but she knew one thing for certain, that book was bad and Ata was trying to use her, for what though? She had nothing to offer him. Her magic wasn't as strong as Zaim's and probably Ata's himself; who was this Dark Lord and who was this oracle?

* * *

Author's Note: I realized I kept forgetting to mention this, but Priestess Halima is not my character. She is Star Moriko's :3. Also, Meskhenet's mom's name was actually Romeesa, for some dumb reason I remembered it as Roheesa and I've already written like half the story with that name so I'm just going to keep it. Lol, I hope you all know who the Dark Lord is, it ain't Voldemort :P


	25. Chapter XXV: The Liar

Chapter XXV: The Liar

"Tahir Re," she said to her audience, "Was the greatest court magician and designer of the Akhet Items. You see, he lived a very tragic life along with his sister, Ra Re but that never stopped him from living his life. Now, what I really love about Tahir Re is the form of his ka," with a wave of her hand, she made the shape of a little platypus of black mist with a blue tunic on and a magician hat, "It was this cute little magician named Magician Platypus. He was by far the cutest little ka you had ever seen! I want my ka to look like this. Father says we cannot choose the forms of our kas, well; I'd like to prove him wrong. I want a magician platypus for myself too, maybe it can be a Sorceress Platypus!" her audience grazed and drank on, staring at her blankly with bored and uninterested expressions while she adored the little mist form she had made only for someone to wave their hand right through it.

"I know you have a lot of things going on for you," Gamilla said, destroying the misted shape of Magician Platypus, "But I'd really like to know when you're flittering around two men."

"I'm sorry, Gamilla that is not what is happening. Bakura and I have made peace with one another and he is the man I am destined to be with. Ahmed is just an obstacle that I have yet to figure out how to get rid of."

"Regardless, both of them seem to be bad choices," she frowned, "I believe I found your nightgown at the canals this morning. I washed it for you, it's currently drying."

"Oh," Meskhenet said sheepishly, remembering earlier today. "Yes…I got distracted."

"Your lover?"

"I wish…" the truth was, she had hurried off to ask Zaim of anything he knew about the black book, but the minute she asked about it, he flipped. Yelling at her for dabbling in arts she didn't understand, thankfully Skylar pulled him away to take care of the mares. This confirmed her suspicions that the black book had something to do with the dark arts. She went over to the soldiers to tell them that a man named Ata was committing acts of sacrilege, a part of her felt bad because she didn't have definite proof and she had just used whatever secret he told her against him but from what his lackeys spoke of last night, it seemed he was up to no good.

"Geb to Meskhenet, are you listening?" Gamilla asked, irritated, waving a hand in front of the redhead.

"Sorry, what?"

Gamilla rolled her eyes and then pointed somewhere behind Meskhenet. Turning around, she spotted Bakura, leading Kek by the reins towards the Nile. Her first instinct was to run there and hug him, but remembering Gamilla there, she held herself back, waiting for him to come to her before he let his horse go to graze with the sheep. He came over to the girls, giving Meskhenet a smile before frowning when he saw Gamilla who gave him a disgusted look.

"I didn't think we were having company," he said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "It makes it a little hard for us to copulate."

Gamilla stared at Meskhenet who gave her a sheepish smile. "Oh, he's joking. We don't—we've never…" she was too embarrassed to say so she just waved her hands.

"Yet," Bakura added. "We got close."

"Not something I wanted to hear," Gamilla replied, taking in a deep inhale. "Well, your nightgown should be dried by this afternoon so feel free to come by and pick it up." She assumed that was Gamilla's poor attempt at inviting her over, but she'd probably take it as to keep herself busy.

"Nightgown?"

"She apparently left it while bathing last night," Gamilla said, turning away from the two. Meskhenet shook her head frantically, waving her hands about. No, no! She didn't need Bakura knowing that! He gave her a devilish grin as Gamilla turned to look at Meskhenet who placed a hand over her face. "Oh, what's this you don't know about her bathing habits?"

"He doesn't need to know."

"She bathes in the canals near the farmland in the middle of the night," _Ammit, Gamilla, why?!_ Gamilla gave her an amused look, "From what I heard you were pretty close to copulating."

"Thank you for the information," Bakura said, squeezing Meskhenet closer to him, but she pushed away at him, her face red hot. "Now if you would…" Gamilla shook her head but left anyways as Meskhenet escaped Bakura's grasp. "So you bathe in the middle of the night."

"You don't know when exactly," she retorted, trying to save herself.

"I know where," he grinned, "I can do a stakeout, I've done plenty before." Even though last night, it had crossed her mind if they would bathe together, she didn't think she was quite ready for Bakura to see her naked or maybe she just wasn't ready to see him naked. "I saw you go to the prison house this morning."

"Yes, you remember the name Ata? He's Zaim's twin brother. He apparently did or does dabble into the dark arts," she shivered, wondering how she had ever thought of resurrection. She should know better. Resurrection was impossible. "I think he's up to something. He was trying to use me so I reported him to the guards."

"Dark arts? Sounds interesting," Bakura grinned, "What did you tell them? He was committing sacrilege against the gods?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I told them," she sighed and looked up, rubbing her neck. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to trust him even though I was warned." She gazed at Bakura who seemed to be deep thought. That's right; Bakura was a thief, tomb robber. Didn't he commit crimes by desecrating the graves of the deceased? They weren't the same, their crimes were different.

"I want to know something," Bakura said as he sat down. "You used to not like me stealing and now you seem to be completely alright with it." She wouldn't say she was _completely_ alright with it, she just thought he had to make a living somehow, right? "Don't tell me you're putting up with it because you're in love with me."

"No," she said indignantly as she came to sit next to him. "I don't want you to change, that's all and I guess…stealing is a part of whom you are? I mean, how can you be Bakura the King of Thieves if you weren't a thief." She gave him a shy smile, she didn't agree with what he did but she wasn't going to nag at him for it. She leaned her head on his shoulder, nuzzling her face against it. He didn't say anything, just wrapped an arm around her waist and together they sat there for a long while with the sheep grazing. She wished things could be like this forever.

"What has your father said?" Bakura asked after a while.

She sighed, "I don't know…he hasn't spoken to me."

"And if he chooses Ahmed, are you really willing to run away?"

He doubted her. She supposed that was reasonable, she wasn't the most reliable person even when she did make up her mind. "Yes…" He gave her a look like he was saying 'are you really sure?' "I'm quite certain." When his look didn't change, she gave him a short glare before moving away. "Fine, don't believe me!"

"You say things you often don't mean," he replied, but she knew what he meant. He was calling her a liar. Did this have anything to do with the love potion? She wasn't a liar! She continued to glare at him only for him to return it. "Don't give me that look. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"I slipped up once. I am not a liar!" she stood up indignantly, grabbing her crook and walking some steps away. The nerve he had, stupid jerk. "Well, if you don't think I can do it I guess I can't. Why are you even here? I might as well marry Ahmed then." She crossed her arms, hoping to get some reaction but she heard him give a low growl before she spun around. "Or, maybe if that's not what you want, you can just kidnap me. I mean that way I go with you and keep my word."

"No one's kidnapping anyone," a weak voice said as the Time Wizard appeared in front of her, startling her as she stumbled backwards. Time Wizard danced with his eyes close, twirling around with his wand in the air. She heard coughing and turned to see her father, weakly using his staff to support him as he came near. "I made my decision already." He came to stand beside her, giving her a hopeful smile before coughing some more.

"Father, you should rest. You didn't need to come all the way here." She told him, more anxious about his decision than anything but she was worried of his health. He waved her off. Her heart thumped lightly as she pursed her lips, worried about what he was about to say. She loved him with all her heart; she didn't want to hurt him… _Ah, of course…Bakura has every right to doubt you._

"I'm sorry, Mes," he told her, placing a frail hand over her head. She took his hand into hers and brought his bony hand to her lips, kissing it lightly. He really was a weak old man and it hurt to see him in such a way. As a child, she always saw her father as this regal, dignified and strong man like Hakim was except wiser with lots of experience, but seeing him now…she knew his health was failing him regardless of what the doctor said. He meant so much to her, the mere thought of him dying brought tears to her eyes as she sniffled a bit. He was her pharaoh, as wrong as it was, it was true. _Maybe the Pharaoh is great…but no man will ever be as wise or kind or loving as my father…_ "Deep down all I want is your happiness, I want you to be taken care of so that when I…so that when the time comes you will have a strong young man to rely on and not this feeble goat."

"Father…" she gave him a smile but a tear rolled down her cheek. He wiped it away, cupping her face in his hands.

He sighed, "I doubted you and I doubted Bakura," he peered over her, "I must apologize to you for that, Bakura. I didn't believe you could care for my daughter but who I really doubted was myself and your mother," he looked her straight in the eyes and all she could see was the love for her and many things reflecting in those brown eyes, mirroring her own. "I still see you as that little girl no matter what I tell Zaim," He chuckled and coughed, "And no matter what, I will always see you as that little girl. I wanted you taken care of, but in reality I keep forgetting that you can take care of yourself."

She didn't quite know if she could take care of herself. She didn't make good choices, but the time would come when she would've to learn as he did and as her mother before her. He touched her face, his hands lightly cold, where was the warmth she used to love? She held his hand, hoping to transfer her own warmth into him.

"Even on the day of your wedding, should the time come, I'll still see you as the little girl who ran around the house, pretending to be Court Magician Miriam while Hunter was your Enchanted Magician Platypus," he laughed and she let out a soft chuckle. She remembered those days; Hakim would pretend to be pharaoh while she played her fake magic with Hunter, back when they were all together. "It's the same as when I sent your brother to Thebes as a soldier," his voice broke and his eyes softened with sadness.

"Oh, Father," she hugged him as he brushed her hair, coughing lightly. "I'll always be your little girl, but I am a woman now and though I make bad choices, I'm going to need to spread my wings and fly." She touched the burn mark on his face lightly as if he was fragile glass. He merely smiled at her.

"Perhaps, you can entertain this old goat. Try summoning your ka?" he asked as he wobbled over to Bakura who had been watching them silently. She slowly walked behind him before catching Bakura's distant gaze. She beamed at him, happy to know her father made the choice she wanted; at least she wouldn't need to run away with Bakura. As her father sat down on the ground, she bent over to kiss him on the head before she came over to Bakura and awkwardly kissed him on the lips. She didn't really like kissing in front of her father, it seemed odd but his gaze was pulled to the sheep. She went to the Nile, taking in a deep breath as she concentrated on trying to summon her ka. Alas though, nothing happened which made her frown.

Suddenly, something pushed her nearly into the water, making her quickly spin around with a protest but she saw it was the Time Wizard, cheerfully dancing in the air. Diabound came too, enjoying himself by scaring her sheep which she had to stop so eventually he came to rest around her neck while the Time Wizard made flowers grow and did some magic. Diabound and the Time Wizard played with her. She guessed they were trying to cheer her up as she was trying to summon her ka. Diabound slithered around her and the Time Wizard splashed water on her, she laughed.

Every day was pretty similar, she tried to summon her ka much to her disappointment that she couldn't. Diabound and the Time Wizard were usually there to cheer her on. She still wanted to see Diabound fly, but Bakura insisted that Diabound would fly when he was ready. Her father and Bakura sometimes accompanied her with the sheep but her father seemed to be getting weaker and now ruthlessly insisted he was practically never hungry. He looked like he was getting thinner too which worried Meskhenet greatly. The doctor wouldn't speak with her, if anything he seemed like he was avoiding her, however she did see the doctor come out from her home occasionally. Whenever Zaim or her father was around, Bakura didn't dare touch her but she was fine with that.

One day, Bakura took off to scout out a tomb (she told him to be careful) and her father was stuck at home with the doctor much to his displeasure. She was out at the Nile with Zaim having dropped by some food Skylar made for her, having given her father his already, Zaim looked out at the sky distractedly. Meskhenet ate her food in silence as she watched him, expecting him to say something.

"What do you think if I moved to Thebes or Koptos?" Zaim asked absentmindedly. Right, he was trying to move away from Mallawi with Skylar and Issar. She wondered why he was trying to move when he lived here all his life especially since Nakia wasn't leaving either. She couldn't exactly imagine him living without his sister.

"Why don't you just stay in Mallawi?" she suggested, nibbling on a piece of bread. A sheep came over and stole an apple while some came to lie down next to her, chewing. "It's where you're from."

Zaim frowned and turned to her. "No, it's not," he stated plainly. "I'm from Al-Faiyum." She blinked at him, going over that in her head. _What?_ "Your father never told you?" He was from Al-Faiyum? Didn't she and Bakura passed that place when they were children? At least the oasis, she thought. Wait, did that mean her mother was from Al-Faiyum too?! She didn't know how to feel about that, she had always believed her mother was from Beni Suef. Zaim seemed to read her mind as he sighed, "Your mother was from Beni Suef. My family came from Al-Faiyum, your mother lived there for a while and your brother was born there. Your father kept the farm going in Beni Suef while your mother and brother lived with my family to help us out, but we all moved after…" he stopped himself as a distant memory passed through his mind, glazing over his eyes. He stared absently at her.

"After what?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "Did something happen in Beni Suef?" she remembered now that the old man from the artist shop back in Beni Suef asked her if Nakia told her anything, something about the young people being unable to remember but he remembered. Was this the same thing? "Does Nakia know something?"

Zaim turned his gaze sharply towards her, slightly glaring. "Who told you?"

"No one…no one told me anything," she muttered, raising her hands in defense.

"Stop looking for trouble. Your mother and Hakim moved to Beni Suef to be with your father, that's all. Mashariq must've meant that, nothing else," but his tone told her there was something else. He just didn't want to say it.

Feeling uncomfortable under his hard gaze, she changed the subject. She could ask Nakia later. "I've never been to Koptos, only passed it by but maybe Thebes would be a good place? You need land though and the living expenses might be a little high…"

Zaim wasn't listening. "I have to go check on the mares. They eat more now and I can't have Skylar and Nakia doing my work, too much heavy lifting." He didn't say goodbye, just left with a far off look in his eyes. She frowned while watching him leave. _Who cared that the Court had secrets. My family has them too apparently._

She heard a quacking noise and looked around, there weren't any birds here but then she saw it, the darter. Ata's darter flying overhead before safely landing on a tree, it ruffled its feathers and then stared at her in long intervals of silence before it made a loud noise and the atmosphere around the Nile changed. It grew cold and dark, clouds formed in the sky, dark clouds, covering up the sun. The rivers turned black which alarmed her flock, moving onto the banks and hills to get away from the river of darkness while the trees seemed to wilt while standing and the leaves decayed as if eaten by locusts.

She turned around and saw Ata, his hood over his face, golden eyes glowing behind the shadows of his hood. He reeked of death which made her cover her mouth and nose, taking a few steps back. He had his sinister smile plastered on his face; whatever air of friendliness he once had was gone, now it seemed he only had darkness.

"You sold me out," he said in a low voice. "I didn't do anything."

"You were trying to use me," she said, "I heard your lackeys. The oracle, the Dark Lord, you said you didn't do those things anymore but you do. You lied. You're not family, you're just a monster." She gripped her crook hard in her hand, slowly taking steps back as her flock gathered around behind her. "What is the black book?"

"Still curious, are you?" he chuckled, reaching a hand out as if he expected her to take it but the way he moved was stiffly, like a corpse, it frightened her. Her body shivered and her heart cried in fear, she heard his darter's squawk and it startled her, causing the black haired man to laugh. "It's my research. Everything that I ever found was in that book. Your father and Zaim took it away from me." The book was blank, what research? She saw nothing when she had looked inside, neither did Bakura or her father as far as she knew. "Do you want to know how to resurrect your mother?"

Her heart shook and something, in the back of her mind, begged her to ask, to know how. It was a small dark cloud bringing in rains she did not want, flooding her mind with curiosity because she really did want to know. _No!_ Death was a part of life, that's what her father said. It kept the world in balance no matter how painful it was.

"I want nothing to do with you…" she said, her voice shaking.

"You want to know," he stated mockingly, "As I did. I wanted my mother back to," he placed his hands on his chest and gave out a hollow laugh. "They took her away from me…because of Zaim. It's his fault, everything is his fault…Nakia, Mother, they were ruined because of him!" she shrunk back from his shouting as it reminded her of how Zaim used to shout before he would hit her or call her names. He didn't do that anymore but the damage was done, it still frightened her. Ata seemed to notice and he lowered his voice, "I just wanted to fix what he ruined."

"You can't change the past," she told him, "No one can."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. The Dark Lord can and so can your father, he just doesn't want to." Lies, he was lying, her father couldn't change time. He told her that. "You think I lie? Well, what about the doctor? Hasn't he told you your father is dying? Didn't Zaim tell you why your father suddenly wanted you join the Queen's Guards? Ahaha, you're so gullible. They've all lied to you. He's sick, he's dying. Your old man is dying!"

"Shut up!" a flame came to her hand as the one inside burst and without restraint, she let it fly towards Ata who easily moved to the side, dodging the spell. She was breathing hard as her heart beat fast inside, a squirming feeling within as her insides coiled. He was lying…he had to be, her father wouldn't…the doctor, the doctor… But she knew deep inside that Ata must've been telling the truth. _That's why everything changed. That's why the doctor is avoiding you._ "I don't believe you."

"Ask him yourself, but of course," he paused, "He'd just change the subject."

"Get out," she told him, her body shaking as she clenched her hands into fists. "Leave, get out of Mallawi!"

"Not until I have what I want," he told her.

"Get out!" she screamed, another fireball appearing in her hand as she blasted it at him. Her insides were unraveling into a mess of fire, burning brightly and angrily, trying to keep the darkness away. He was mad. He was lying.

Ata waved his hand in the air and a black flame countered her spell, engulfing it into nothing and then he came at her, proceeding to walk closer as he readied another spell. Frightened, she moved back only slightly, her sheep becoming restless behind her. She blasted energy spells at him only for them to disappear and ripple in front of his form as if he had a barrier around him. His pace quickened and his arm flung out as if he was shoving someone aside only for her to get thrown in the air. Her sheep scattered while she rolled on the ground, getting up quickly and commanding the water to obey her.

Streams of water shot out from the Nile, ribbons spiraling around each other until they formed a large cyclone of black water, arching down onto him but as if he had no fear at all, he easily threw out a wind sickle, cutting the water in half and sending the blackness down onto the banks of the Nile, soaking her sheep and her, all besides him. He called out a spell, Freeze, but she countered with a spell of her own. Tapping her crook in the ground, she made dirt and debris rise in a windstorm around him, blinding his view while she scurried off to shoo her sheep away, readying another spell at the same time.

 _Damn it, I'm not strong enough!_ A windstorm burst out around her, knocking her off her feet while her flock ran up the hills and away. She jumped to her feet, sending blasts after blasts at him before she went up to higher ground. She tried to freeze him but it did little good, he sent thunder down at her! She danced away, sending a fireball at him. Ata caused the earth to rumble, making her lose her balance as she rolled downhill again, hitting bushes and twigs until she was down at his feet. He smiled down at her, a mocking smile as he stomped a foot down unto her chest, feeling the wind get knocked out of her, she gasped out in pain.

"Learn to choose your battles," he hissed, leaning down towards her, his mouth opening almost as if he was Apep himself trying to eat her. Screaming, she sent a shockwave through the air, throwing him back as she rolled onto her stomach, breathing hard. He was right, she shouldn't have made the first move, but she was so angry. Wobbling, she got up and glared at him. "Give up!"

"Never!" calling to her magic within her, she spun her hands around each other, causing embers and sparks to appear, hitting the ground and sizzling into the air. A mini firestorm came within her hands, glowing red, orange and yellow, burning through the darkness and illuminating her. The faster she went the stronger the flames grew until from her hands burst out a glowing phoenix of fire, screeching and crackling the phoenix raised its wings and took to the skies, gathering the elements around it until it changed colors and then it turned its sharp eye onto Ata who looked at it with a glare. Screeching the bird came down, hurtling, its large wings brushing against everything and turning it into ash, it got closer and closer to Ata but he merely stood there, a smile curling onto his lips. She knew he won. That spell took all of her energy, she used too much of her baa. Her magic wasn't meant for offense, mostly entertainment. Collapsing onto her knees, she coughed, trying to catch her breath, too weak to watch her spell back fire.

Ata created his own creature, of water, a three headed beasts with a snake for a tail. It was hard to see what exactly it was but it was large, made from the black waters of the Nile and roaring a thunderous shout that it only shook the earth. The phoenix and it battled briefly before the three headed beasts all at once, devouring the flaming bird and dissipating the last light of the battle.

"You lose, little girl," he spat as he came walking towards her.

No, she couldn't lose, not like this. _I'm not strong enough. I am a fool…_ when he got close enough to her; she shut her eyes out of fear like a coward, waiting for some impact, a hit like what Zaim used to do. Instead, she heard him shout and give off a cry of pain. Opening her eyes, she saw a glowing white snake in front of Ata's face, his left eye bleeding as he covered it. The white wings rattled as the snake gave out a low and long hiss and flicker of his tongue. Ata threw the snake aside only for it to bounce and roll on the ground, rising its head and hissing sharply until it opened its mouth and sent little energy blasts of white with electric blue at Ata who produced a barrier around himself. However, the power of a ka, regardless of size, was stronger than that of a human. The barrier shattered and Ata was hit a couple of times. Smoke sizzled from where he was wounded and a substance darkened his clothes. He turned his attention to her only for Diabound to slither in front of her.

It was odd because as Diabound stood there, rising his head in a challenging manner in her defense, she could've sworn she saw him change, grow in length and size as if he just got bigger. She was much too tired to actually pay any attention as her focus was drawn to Ata who scoffed when she heard gravel crunching beneath shoes. Slowly turning, she saw Bakura was there, standing. He apparently had just come back from his tomb as he had a bag, presumably with gold, slung over his shoulder.

Ata laughed, "I had hoped to meet in better circumstances, Bakura."

"I presume you're Ata," Bakura gave him a crooked smile. "I had only wished to meet you to give you a piece of my mind, but I see that's not possible. It seems I'm at a disadvantage. You're a magician and I'm—well, I'm just me."

"That's all I need," Ata replied. "I don't wish you harm, Bakura. I never had meant to hurt you either, Meskhenet." She glared at him. He sure seemed to have killing intent when he was battling her. "I'm afraid I must've taken my anger out on you. You just look so much like _Roheesa._ "

"Get out," she told him, staggering to stand. "Stay away from me, my family and Mallawi. No one wants you here."

"You blame everyone as liars. You're the biggest one of all," he turned his attention skyward and immediately the world began to brighten. The clouds disintegrated like they were never there and the rivers turned back to blue, the vegetation no longer wilted and decayed but fresh with life once more. "I'll see you around, Mes-khe-net." He pronounced every syllable clearly and it sent a cold chill down her back as she nearly collapsed again, but Bakura supported her to stand by holding her around her waist. Ata waved with his bloody hand, regarding Diabound with contempt and then with a gust of wind, he was gone.

As if she had been holding her breath, she exhaled deeply, falling to the ground as Diabound turned to her. She started to hyperventilate while the fear receded but she couldn't control her body, it shook and shivered, feeling cold and numb as the tears spilled out. _I am weak._ She couldn't catch her breath, it was like she was suffocating as she heaved, her stomach aching.

"Khenet, Khenet!" Bakura called to her as she laid a hand on his chest, trying to push him away. He had to come and save her. As grateful as she was, she was ashamed too. She was going to join the Queen's Court, her primary duty would be to protect the Queen of Egypt but she couldn't even protect herself. She couldn't summon her ka. She was a magician…Bakura was just a regular man, a thief and yet he had outdone her in every way. Why was she so weak…? Bakura grabbed her by the shoulders, "Khenet, look at me." He cupped his hands over her mouth, "Come on, Khenet, breathe…" her breathing slowed down as she exhaled and inhaled into his warm hands, feeling her hot breath on her mouth, she gasped as she began to calm down.

Diabound nudged her knees, rubbing his head on her thighs as if for comfort. When she had calmed down, she hugged Bakura and wept into his chest, shaking and cold. He wrapped his strong arms around her and held her there for a good long minutes. "Don't do that again," he told her. She gripped his tunic tightly as she shook her head.

"He—he called my father a liar. He…he said he's dying, Bakura…" she sobbed. She didn't want to cry but it was all coming out and she couldn't stop it. Bakura squeezed her tighter, not asking questions as she sniffled and wet his shirt. "He's not dying…he can't…he can't leave me. Not like Hakim…not like Momma."

"Khenet…" Bakura was about to say something but he didn't say it, instead he helped her up. He lifted her face towards him, wiping her tears away with his hands. "Khenet, your father is ill."

Horrified, she looked him in the eye, seeing if what she knew he was saying was true. He thought her father was dying too. No! They were all wrong! Her father was just ill. He'd get better. Stepping away from Bakura, she glared at him, her tears turning to anger, a fading anger from the dying embers inside. "You're wrong! You just don't have faith. The gods will heal him. He's done nothing wrong."

"People don't have to do wrong to be punished," Bakura muttered, reaching a hand towards her face but she slapped it away.

"You're lying!" she told him before she turned around and ran off towards her home. Her flock had long fled the scene, probably headed to Mallawi to invade it for food as they would be too frightened to return to the Nile. She cried and sobbed as she ran home, not even realizing she left her crook back at the Nile. She bumped and shoved into people, wiping her tears and feeling a large hole growing inside her chest. It was hollow and yet it ached so badly wherever it touched, especially right at the center of her heart.

When she got home, she instantly ran to her father to get to the bottom of everything, but when she came to his room, the door was open and the doctor was there while her father lied on his bed, looking thin and weak as he slowly looked at her. Her heart stopped beating as everything Bakura and Ata said came flooding her mind, bringing more tears to spill over. They weren't lying… her father had, the doctor, Zaim…those were the ones who had lied. The people she trusted and yet the ones everyone told her were bad had told her the truth.

"Mes, it's too soon to be home," her father said, coughing.

"Please, don't say it," she begged, coming over to her father and dropping to her knees at his bedside. "Don't say it…please…" The doctor glanced at her father who signaled him to go away. He bowed his head and quietly left while her father placed a thin hand over her head while she sobbed uncontrollably. "Please, don't say it…don't…"

He chuckled, "I wish it wasn't so."

"No!" she shouted, looking at him but there was no anger, no sadness, no fear on his face, just plain calmness as if he expected the end to come, as if he was ready for it and he would embrace it. It pained her heart that throbbed like a bleeding wound. How could he be so calm?! He was going to leave her all alone. She would have no one. No one… "You can't…Father. What about me?"

"Mes," his eyes watered as if he finally realized what he would be losing. "Oh, Mes…" he weakly came over her to give her a frail hug. "I don't want to leave you, but my time is coming soon. This is why I wanted you to marry, to see you taken care of. And your dreams…oh, I never wanted you to take the burden of my work but perhaps this way you could ease my old heart…bring peace to what was broken. I think you're onto the right step." She had no words to say to him, only for the comfort of his hug and to weep. "I had hoped to find another wielder, but I'm afraid I was too late."

"You're not dying…you're just ill, that's all. The gods will make you better. I—I'll go to the temples and pray, I'll pray really hard," she said, laughing a little.

"I need you here," he told her. "You can pray here, Mes." He smiled and coughed. She wouldn't accept him dying because there was still hope and time. "I want to see your ka. Can you grant this old man one last wish?" She just nodded, not really understanding or paying any attention to what he was asking. He stroked her head and told her a story she couldn't remember until she fell asleep there as his bedside while he lied back down and wept.

* * *

Author's Note: I had meant to post sooner but work :P


	26. Chapter XXVI: The Black Witch

Chapter XXVI: The Black Witch

She spent the whole day in the company of her father as they took the sheep out together. They didn't talk about last night; if anything they both pretended that last night was nothing but a far off dream. However, she had noted one thing from that far off dream, his wish to see her ka. So while he watched and joked with her, telling her stories of the gods, she tried her hardest to summon her ka. It was futile, she couldn't do it. So in the end, they went home with their flock at sunset, talking about Zaim and poking fun at him. When her mind trailed off to all the ways she could summon her ka, remembering the books and notes and words of her mentors, her father nudged her arm and pointed to the marketplace where Bakura was coming towards them.

"I'll leave you two alone," he told her before leading the sheep back to their house.

She rubbed her arm, not able to look Bakura in the eye from yesterday. She should apologize. When he got near her, she shifted her eyes to him, blushing slightly at the sight of him. He was wearing a black robe, with nothing but a shendyt underneath. He had a few bracelets on his arms and a necklace; he looked like a king she thought. She hadn't paid much attention to what she was wearing but looking down at herself now, she saw that she was wearing a white halter neckline dress with a little color of teal and bronze on it, a teal sash tied around her waist and a slit down the side of her right leg. They both looked kind of fancy for poor people which made her laugh lightly.

Bakura said nothing to her as she was about to greet him, rather he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back out of town, towards the falls. He kept a steady pace while she tried to keep up, "Bakura…" she said, but he squeezed her wrist tightly, almost uncomfortably as he yanked her forward, nearly making her stumble. Glaring at him, she twisted and resisted his movements until she slipped out, rubbing her wrist as she slowly followed after him, "Hi to you too."

"Come on," he told her, looking back briefly but continuing on his way like he was in a rush. She glumly followed after him until they reached the falls; the loud noise of the waters crashing down below was music to her ears. It felt refreshing to be here among the vegetation, fresh air and the cool breeze of the waters. She inhaled deeply while holding herself. She felt his arms come around her from behind as he hugged her. She turned to him and touched his face. "Are you alright?"

She sighed and they walked together, she told him what happened last night and offered him an apology, but he waved it off. He didn't seem to quite understand her issue with Ata, he didn't like the man but he saw her issue a bit trivial which annoyed her. However, he tried to cheer her up by hugging and kissing her. They went over to the edge of the falls and Bakura summoned Diabound who happily slithered around Meskhenet. She petted the snake, thanking him for saving her.

"Where would you like to live?" Bakura suddenly asked. She hoped he wasn't trying to ask her to run away again. She sat near the water, splashing her feet in the cool liquid. He did the same except he wasn't splashing. Diabound curled up on her lap, apparently going to sleep.

She thought for a moment. "Hmm, I don't know…"

"You have to have a dream place so what is it?"

"The palace I guess," she said sheepishly. He laughed at her which made her blush as she thought he had a nice laugh.

"So you want to be queen?"

"No," she didn't really care for riches or titles though it would be nice to be a little richer than she was now just to afford a few things she wanted like a mirror or a brush for her hair, things other girls had. "I just would like to live in a grand place."

"When I become King of Thieves, I'll make you a queen."

"I just said I don't want to be queen," she pushed him lightly. She was glad he didn't say Thief Lord. She remembered that when they were children, she had called him 'Prince of Thieves', she guessed it was more befitting for him now to call himself 'King'. "How do you know when you are King of Thieves?"

"When everyone knows my name and fears me. You can become Queen of Thieves then too," it was like he wasn't listening to her. She laughed at him a little. She was pretty sure to be 'Queen of Thieves' she would have to actually be a thief and would have to actually steal. She shook her head.

"I'd like to be a great magician and that will be good enough for me." That wasn't possible now; she would be a priestess, a Queen's Guard. From her fight with Ata, she realized she had a long, long way to go before she could actually become a great magician.

"You are a great magician."

"No, I'm not… I couldn't protect myself," she replied gloomily, sighing. He frowned at her and rubbed her head. She slapped his hand away and fixed her hair. "I cannot even summon my ka."

"You're being hasty," he told her. She doubted that. "There's no limit when you should summon your ka, most people can't."

"Most magicians can."

Bakura was staring at her. She blushed. "W—what?" He didn't respond but suddenly Diabound slithered off her and Bakura suddenly pushed her into the water with a loud splash. The cold liquid engulfed her as she quickly rose to the surface, soaking wet as she screamed. She gasped and turned to him angrily. He was sitting over there, laughing at her. Jerk! She splashed water at him but he took off his black robe and just jumped in and pulled her under. She pushed him off and swam to the surface. He came out in front of her, running his fingers through his hair. She splashed at him and stalked over to the edge of the ground, but he grabbed her around the waist and held her back. "Stop!"

But they both were laughing. He turned her around and kissed her. She pushed him away and ran off. She didn't like being wet. Her dress clung onto her skin and revealed her curves and everything. Especially since she was wearing a white dress, her underwear and breasts could be seen now that her dress looked transparent and soaked. He got out of the water and picked up his black robe. She squeezed the water out of her hair and tried to cover her breasts with her arms.

"You're going to get sick," he said. Oh, if he was so worried about that he wouldn't have pushed her in the first place. "You should make a fire and take off your clothes to let it dry." Oh, of course that was his plan.

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" she asked him. He smirked at her, but she shook her head. "I'll take my chances of getting sick, thank you!" He walked over to her but she moved away, still trying to cover her breasts but his eyes were turned elsewhere which she then realized he was looking at her underwear. "S—stop!"

He merely smirked at her, trailing his eyes to her breasts. "I think I rather like this look." Her face felt fiery hot as she tried to cover her face, but realized her breasts would show through her clothes. "You know," he tugged her wet dress at her hips, "We can get you out of this." And then he placed his hand on her butt which made her jump, giggling out of embarrassment as she felt herself going to explode.

"Bakura…" she whimpered, holding herself close. She couldn't look him in the eye as he took her shoulders in his hands and spun her around. Her eyes still downwards, she realized he had a white shendyt on and it was quite transparent now too so she forced her eyes upwards, laughing a little bit, and glad that shendyts were doubled over.

"Come here," he told her while placing his robe gently over her shoulders where she slipped her arms into as he slipped a hand in hers and pulled her towards a bushy area of greens with a few thin trees growing out of the ground near the first waterfall. He kept pulling her along as she shivered lightly at the cold feeling of her dress. She needed to get dry otherwise she could become ill, he too. She kept a steady pace behind him, staring at his back. Despite the night, she could see the faint scars on his body which made her sad knowing that he must've gone through a lot of pain in the past. Personally though, she thought scars added to his charm, made him seem more…brave and manly she thought. Giggling to herself, she let him pull her along.

"What's so amusing?" he asked her, but she shrugged. He continued to pull her along into a jungle like area with large enough pathways for them to walk along; it was closer to the falls which she could feel the spraying of water and the mist on her skin. There was so much vegetation here; it didn't feel like Egypt at all. Bakura finally pulled her along to stand in a green clearing with trees and leaves bordering the edges with the waterfall only some distance back. He held her close as Diabound appeared, slithering off somewhere.

"What are we doing?" she asked, shivering as Bakura held her close. He was a little cold too from the water but his warmth was comforting. Suddenly, she saw the grass and leaves rustle and out of instinct she summoned a flame only for Bakura to place a hand on her wrist, moving her hand down. He shushed her as they waited.

The rustling stopped and then suddenly out from the trees and jungle around them flew butterflies of orange, white and black color, all fluttering and flapping their wings to create a magical scene that took her breath away. They looked to be glowing from the moonlight, drifting in the misted wind as they flew around the couple, off into the night or to find another hiding spot. They added color to the dark knight, orange against the green and white against the night, it was all so serene with the low noise of their wings which she felt beat and brushed against her heart. Closing her eyes, she sighed, leaning her head on his chest as she silently listened to the music of the creatures. Bakura rested his chin on her head, his hand playing with her fingers. Why couldn't things always be like this…?

She felt a little ticklish on her nose, opening her eyes she saw that a butterfly had landed on her nose which caused her to giggle. The slight motion of her head startled the small creature and it took flight with the rest of them. Both she and Bakura watched it join its kind as they disappeared with the stars in the darkness. She sighed, wishing them back already.

Bakura looked at her and grinned. She just smiled at him. He leaned his forehead on hers and brushed their noses. Laughing, she gave him a quick peck on his nose before he pulled her into a long and passionate kiss. His hands slipping from her own to make their way to her hips which he brought closer to his body until their wet clothes met and there was no distance between them. She could feel his hungry passion from the way he kissed her, however he toned it down just enough not to ruin the mood which she was grateful for. With their bodies so close together though, she could start feeling him against her, causing her to heat up in the face. As their kissing got more intense, she could literarily feel him now. Pulling her lips away, she gave him a sheepish smile, blushing.

He didn't say anything, just rested his forehead against hers, eyes closed. Pursing her lips, she moved her hands over to his, taking them within hers as she intertwined their fingers and lightly squeezed his hands, stepping back enough just so she didn't feel him. For a while, they stayed like that until he moved her hands over to his lips, kissing her fingers and blowing on them a bit. Snickering, she kissed his and lightly licked at his which made him chuckle.

"I think I'll head on home. Thank you for today," she told him in a whisper

"Why are you thanking me?" he kissed her on the lips. She flushed hotter as she looked down.

"You made me feel better," she responded, her heart thumping lightly as she shyly looked at him. She clung onto his robe tightly. "Walk me home," she said, grabbing his hand again and this time pulling him along. He did walk her home but when they got there. Zaim was outside, holding a few scrolls. He turned to them when he heard them approach. When he saw Bakura, he fumed and went on and on about the same thing. Bakura took off, leaving Meskhenet with his robe.

"Yaqeen!" Zaim shouted. Her father opened the door.

"What is this ruckus?" her father asked, amused by Zaim's outburst.

"Why do you let your daughter so carelessly run around with that tramp? Aren't you worried that things are going to get too far?" He was pointing at the robe. Meskhenet sighed. He was always implying the worse in her and in Bakura. Her father was stroking his beard and squinting at the robe.

"Why, Zaim, I see that my daughter has brought me a handsome new robe. What is the problem?" her father chuckled. Zaim held the bridge of his nose and gave a deep sigh in frustration. "Zaim, Bakura and Mes are both adults now. They are responsible—"

"Yes, and responsible they'll be when she turns up pregnant!"

"Hmm," her father coughed. "This old goat still has some teeth left. I promise you, Zaim, should my Mes turn up pregnant, I'll chew the man alive."

"This isn't a joke!"

"No, no, of course not… Zaim, I raised my daughter quite well if I do say so myself. Have a little faith in Mes, she knows right and wrong," her father ushered her over and she went to him. He patted her head. She didn't like when Zaim accused Bakura of basically being a whore—sure, Bakura made inappropriate jokes but he never actually did anything to her that she didn't want. He was actually quite patient with her, she thought.

Zaim sighed once more but handed Meskhenet the scrolls. "These are protection spells and there's a scroll on kas." He walked away, but Meskhenet called him back. "Yes…?"

She glanced at her father. She hadn't told her father or Zaim about her encounter with Ata, but with her father's health, she didn't think she needed to cause him anymore stress. "Never mind… I'll talk to you later. Goodnight," he nodded towards her and left. Her father closed the door and started having a coughing fit. "Father!"

He held up his hand. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I should get some rest." He kissed her on the forehead and walked away. She looked at the scrolls and decided she'd take a look at them tonight while she dried off. She went to her room and took off the robe then changed into her night gown. She lit a candle and sat down next to a wall, unrolling the scrolls. The protection spells were barrier spells to deflect magic; this would've been quite helpful against Ata. She wondered why he had given them to her. She read over the ka scroll and it explained the two different forms of kas. She already knew that too. Why was he giving her old information? She frowned. She thought that the ka scroll could help her but it didn't.

She sighed and rolled up the scrolls, placing them aside. It didn't matter how many times she tried, she couldn't summon her ka! She tried focusing on the people she loved and nothing happened, she tried thinking of people she hated and she couldn't find many. She tried not concentrating on summoning it but then she ended up not even trying to summon it. She just couldn't get it.

She eventually fell asleep and dreamt of her and Bakura wandering the palace halls, dressed up lavishly like a pharaoh and queen. She woke up with a start. Ah, it must've been because of their previous conversation. She shook her head. It was morning now so she changed her clothes into a light tan dress and ran off to the falls, hoping Bakura would be there. It was a little too early to bring the sheep out so she decided she'd take them out in a couple of hours.

When she got there, no one was there and she felt disappointed but then she heard someone approach and she turned around. "Bakura!" but it was Zaim and he was glaring at her. She placed a hand over her mouth. "Oh, um… Master Zaim, what are you doing here?"

"I'm just taking a walk. Why are you here so early?" he asked, approaching her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You weren't meeting up with that thief, were you?"

She wasn't really meeting up with Bakura. They hadn't planned anything. "Um… no?" she didn't want to ask why he hadn't told her of her father's health, she figured her father made him promise so instead she decided to come out and tell him of Ata. "The day before…after you left, Ata came to me."

Zaim didn't really seem surprised by this information. "I heard the talk of the soldiers. You told them about him." She nodded; he let out a long sigh. "He's a danger to everyone and yet…" he turned his gaze skyward, seemingly sad, "I can't bring myself to hurt him. He's my brother after all. Despite all the evil he's done, I can't hurt him." He turned to her with a sad smile, "What about you…would you hurt Hakim if you knew he was evil?"

The idea was preposterous! Hakim was a kind and gentle individual, there was no possible way he could ever be evil, but just the same as Zaim, she wouldn't be able to lift a finger against someone she loved so dear as her family. "No…" after a while of silence, she hesitatingly told him, "I…I attacked him."

"You're stupid for doing so," he told her, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "He's stronger than you, not just from experience but because he dabbles in dark magic. He has given up a lot to gain power."

"I know…I got defeated," she rubbed her arm, feeling rather stupid now. "Bakura saved me." Zaim rolled his eyes. "I think Ata is after him…"

"The thief?" he laughed, "What would my brother want with that damn thief? I do recall him wanting to purge the world of crime so perhaps that?"

"No, he said he didn't want to hurt Bakura. What did he do? Ata…what did he do with your mother? He kept saying something about wanting to see her again and Nakia and that everything was your fault."

Zaim looked out blankly ahead, "I suppose it was my fault," he muttered quietly before shaking his head and turning his gaze on her. "That's enough," she knew not to pry too much. Zaim gave her a crooked smile, "I'd rather you not look for trouble. You must focus on summoning your ka. Show me your ka," Zaim practically commanded her. She shook her head and stared at him.

"I can't… I'm not ready… may I see yours again?" she asked. She never really asked anything of Zaim. She had always been afraid to but he shrugged and suddenly a flame burst into a whirlwind of fire right behind him and dispersed as Volcanic Wings entered the scene, blazing and sizzling as he let out a low screech. Shaking his head, Volcanic Wings arched his neck low so Meskhenet could pet him.

"You must remember that your ka is an extension of your soul. It is born from your ba and therefore apart of you."

"I know that already…"

"Meskhenet, do you concentrate and try to be you?" he asked. She didn't quite understand his question.

"No… I am just me?"

"Yes, you are." He nodded, "You don't try to be you because you are you and that's who you are." He was confusing her. He rubbed his forehead as if he was in deep thought. "Be yourself and let your ka be you."

Volcanic Wings flew into the sky and disappeared. Zaim just shook his head and walked away. Meskhenet thought about what he said for a while. Let her ka be itself…? She had been concentrating hard on making some kind of form appear; subconsciously she had been trying to envision her ka. She wasn't giving it the freedom it needed. She laughed at herself. She kept focusing on things that she shouldn't have had. Bakura had said he didn't choose Diabound's form; it grew from his anger and hatred (and miraculously sprouted wings). He didn't focus on those feelings, he just felt them and his ka had formed from that. She had been continuously thinking of who she loved without just loving them.

She laughed at herself. _I'm such a fool._ Zaim was a really good teacher. She heard some bleating and looked in the distance. She saw her weak old father approach with the sheep. Bakura was there too, talking to her father.

"Ah, Mes, Bakura said we'd find you here," her father coughed then sat down at the ground's edge with his feet in the water. "I took the liberty to bring the sheep with me."

"You didn't need to come out here, Father. I would have brought them out." He coughed. She furrowed her brows as she came near him. He waved her off. "I think I figured out how to summon my ka."

"Really? I would love to see it," her father said as the sheep went to graze and drink. The Time Wizard and Diabound came again to cheer her on. Bakura was standing near her father, looking at her. She felt kind of embarrassed with all those eyes watching her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. There was darkness and she envisioned herself touching a stone slab, her father and Bakura came to her mind and somehow she saw the images of her mother and Hakim was there too. He was the same way she remembered him, red hair that reached the back of his neck and looked untamed. He had the same eyes as hers and he wore a gentle smile. Taymur and Hunter, her brother's saluki, pranced in the darkness and suddenly there was a light that they jumped through. She felt something lift from within her and she opened her eyes.

Bakura and her father were staring at something above her. Diabound and the Time Wizard danced in celebration. She turned to see her ka and there it was: robed in a dreaded black robe with its hood down and edges in tatters, with a wooden staff in one hand and a large pointed hat on top of its head. It had long golden hair billowing in the wind and its face—there was no face, just a white mask with painted black lines where the eyes should have been and tear strokes down the mask in the color of violet. There was no mouth or nose.

It was ugly! She turned to her father who applauded her, but she was upset. Her ka wasn't beautiful like Bakura's or vivid and lively like her father's. It was dark and dreary. Weren't kas supposed to be the reflection of the soul? Why was hers so dark?!

"You did it," Bakura said rather pleased but when he saw her expression, he stopped smiling. "What's wrong?"

"It's hideous!" she cried, looking back at it. Her ka just floated there, staring off into the distance. It was so dreary. She thought she was remembering all the people she loved. She thought she would have a nice ka, something lively like Taymur or gentle like Hakim or beautiful like her mother but she had, had… a witch!

"Oh, Mes, we don't choose the form of our kas," her father said. "Learn to love your ka. It will grow as you do."

She frowned. "Will it change form?"

"I don't see what is wrong with the way it is now. It looks very regal," her father chuckled. She wanted to believe him but she didn't think it looked regal at all. "It has a staff so it is a magician like you."

"It's a witch," she said bitterly. "I'm not a witch. I'm a magician!" It was so dark… it was a Black Witch. The Time Wizard flew over to her ka and twirled in front of it. Her ka turned its head in the direction of where the Time Wizard was dancing. Diabound hissed and the Black Witch lowered its staff so the serpent could curl around it. The Black Witch brought its staff near it and Diabound curled around the Witch's neck.

Bakura walked over to Meskhenet and placed an arm around her shoulders. "Black isn't a bad color, I think you look nice in black," Bakura said. Meskhenet frowned.

"Black is the color of fertility like the soil," her father coughed. They were all trying to cheer her up and she was being stupid. Her ka was the reflection of her soul, it was dark but it seemed gentle. She stared up at her ka and her ka turned to her, facing its mask downwards as if it could see her. It was a part of her and regardless of whether she thought it was pretty or not, that was her soul and she was going to have to accept it. Her ka reached a hand out as if reaching for her. She took the Witch's hand and the Witch raised its staff into the sky, sending fire bursting in midday.

She smiled and the Time Wizard danced some more while Diabound went to sleep. Her father applauded but then he started coughing. She and Bakura turned to him as his coughing didn't stop. He kept on coughing like he was having a coughing fit. He placed his hand over his mouth and coughed up blood.

"Father!" she ran to him and Bakura did too. Her father continued to cough up blood.

* * *

Author's Note: I was looking for what butterflies lived in Egypt and found the African Monarch :), they kind of look like Monarchs with the same colors~. Meskhenet finally has her ka!


	27. Chapter XXVII: The Great Wife

Chapter XXVII: The Great Wife

She looked around frantically. "Get Master Zaim!" She realized Bakura didn't know where Zaim lived so she took off instead. She ran as fast she could back to town, she pushed some people out of the way until she reached Zaim's house. He was chatting and laughing with Skylar, but when Skylar saw Meskhenet, Zaim turned towards her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I—it's Father!" Zaim didn't wait for her to finish and they both ran back towards the direction of the falls, but passed her house on the way there. She spotted Bakura helping her father over to town. Zaim ignored Bakura and ran over to her father, taking him from Bakura. Her father's beard and front tunic was smeared with splats of blood

"Get the doctor!" he shouted, and Meskhenet took off to the doctor without a second thought.

When the doctor came, Zaim kicked Meskhenet and Bakura out of her father's room and closed the door so the two went into her bedroom, waiting for some news. She paced her room while Bakura sat down on the floor, leaning on her wall. She was biting her lower lip and twirling her hair. What was going to happen to her father? Was he going to be alright? She couldn't take it if her father died too… no, no, she shouldn't think negative. _He's not dying. He's not…he's just ill. Oh! I should probably pray now!_ But she couldn't as she came to a stop, bringing her hands over her face and weeping. Trying to tell herself he was alright was nothing but a lie. He wasn't alright. Coughing blood was not normal at all.

Bakura grabbed her wrist and pulled her down to sit next to him while she sniffled and cried silently. She was still biting her lower lip and twirling her hair. He moved her hand away from her hair and grabbed her face and made her look at him. "Stop that, you're making it worse!" he said angrily, and she stopped but she began to tap her foot lightly.

Zaim finally came in and looked rather sad. She shot up and went to her master expectantly. She grabbed his arm and waited for him to speak. "The doctor… his breathing is not well. He has pain on his body too…"

"B—but he's alright, yes?!" she desperately asked. She already knew the answer but she didn't want to accept it. She shook her head when Zaim looked at her sadly. "No… he's alright! He has to be!" She pushed passed him and ran to her father's room, he was lying in bed, coughing. The doctor was still there. She tried to run to her father, but the doctor held her back.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to leave. He needs rest," the doctor said. Her father turned to look at her and gave her a weak smile before he started coughing again, blood dripping down his frail lips and staining his once white beard.

"Father!"

"Zaim, get her out of here!" the doctor said, and Zaim came over. He grabbed Meskhenet's shoulder and she just let him lead her out. He closed the door and led her back to her room. He turned her to face him.

"We'll try everything we can," Zaim promised, but Meskhenet knew that nothing was going to save her father—just like how nothing could have saved Taymur.

"But everything isn't good enough…"

"Meskhenet… please," Zaim said. She hung her head down but he lifted her head up with his fingers.

"Isn't there any magic that can cure him? Make him better…?"

"Magic doesn't work that way…"

"Then what's the point?! If magic is just about power then it should be able to cure people, heal them! Power is not just destruction, it's healing too!" she pushed Zaim to no effect and she kept doing so. He grabbed her wrists and held her in place. She didn't want to lose her father. Her father was her world; he was her guardian, friend and protector. He was her father!

"Meskhenet, the gods are the only ones capable of curing people…"

"The gods are cruel!" she shouted, not paying any heed to what she just said. But then, she suddenly felt a stinging pain on her cheek just as Zaim slapped her on the face. She was shocked, he hadn't hit her since she was a child, but he was standing angrily over there. Placing her hand over her face, she bit back the tears as the blow of the hit made her recall all the memories of the years when she was a child. Before she knew it, Bakura was at her side, pulling her back by her shoulders and yelling at Zaim.

"Your father doesn't need this right now! Damn it, Meskhenet! He needs rest and he needs you to be there for him. Pray to the gods for his recovery because they have his fate in their hands now! Magic isn't the way of life so don't rely on it!" he was shouting but then he turned and left to the front door. "I'll come back in a bit. Let your father rest…"

Meskhenet dropped to her knees and cried. Bakura pulled her towards his chest but he didn't say anything, and she cried all night.

When morning came, Meskhenet took some food to her father. The doctor had left but told her that her father shouldn't move around and needed to eat. She came over to her father with a cup of water and a plate of fruits and bread. Her father looked at her and smiled. She gave him a sad smile in return.

"Ah, Mes, smile, this old goat is still kicking," he wheezed. She placed the cup and plate down on the table next to him. He wheezed and coughed a bit. She just stood there awkwardly.

"You really are dying…aren't you?" she asked quietly, but her father just chuckled which slightly infuriated her. Why did he laugh?

"The gods have all of our futures planned. Speaking of futures, you're going to be sixteen soon. I think it's high time we set a banquet for you and Bakura," he smiled but her relationship with Bakura wasn't her concern right now. "Smile, Mes, for this old man."

She forced a smile and her father frowned. "You should eat, Father." He coughed and grumbled as he picked up a branch of grapes and began to slowly eat them. She spent the entire day with her father, talking to him and giving him food when it was time to eat. Her father was mostly quiet but talked here and there. Whenever he coughed, he held his chest and gave a look of pain. She felt so helpless and wished there was something she could do for him. He asked her to perform some magic and she did.

Skylar and Nakia came to visit, dropping off some food and Skylar gave Meskhenet some money so she could buy some medicine. She thanked them and went back to tending to her father. Over the days, her father didn't seem to get any better, if anything he got worse. He was thin, sickly looking and extremely pale. He had coughed up a lot of blood but he was still trying to make jokes. He had asked for his Diadhank back as well but didn't seem to use it.

Bakura came here and there to check up on them. He tried to comfort Meskhenet but she was too depressed to pay much attention to him. The doctor kept making frequent visits but he always had bad news. One day, her father was crying out in pain and the doctor gave him some herbs to try and ease his pain but it didn't work. Meskhenet didn't like seeing her father so weak and frail. She had never seen him cry and it broke her heart to see him like that eventually Zaim used a sleeping spell on him.

"Isn't there anything stronger?" Meskhenet asked the doctor one day. He sighed.

"Thebes has better medicine there, but they are quite expensive…" the doctor said. She really wished she was a queen then she could pay for any medicine in the world. She saw the doctor out and ran into Bakura outside her house. She smiled at him sadly. She hadn't really paid much attention to him and she felt kind of guilty for that. He had been trying to comfort her as best he could.

He was standing over there, deep in thought. She got on her tiptoes and kissed him, but he moved away. "Don't force yourself," he said, and she frowned. "I'm going to be gone for a couple of days."

Was he really leaving for some tomb hunt? She was annoyed by him. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To Thebes," and he left. She wondered if he had heard her conversation with the doctor and if so… did that meant he was going to get the medicine? She wasn't sure. She didn't have time to worry about where he was going or if he was going to steal. Her father needed her.

In the next few days, a soldier came over and handed her a falcon and a folded kalasiris that was black in color with a golden waist band and collar that had blue and red on it along with some golden earrings. He also gave her a plain brown horse with black mane. He said that these were what her father had requested as payment from his work as the Queen's Guard and that they were for her. She was surprised. She hadn't actually thought her father got paid for his job.

The sheep had been cared for by the goatherd but eventually Zaim told her that their best bet was to sell the sheep as no one had time to shepherd them and with the money they could buy better medicine. It was enough to lose Taymur, but Zaim was right, Meskhenet couldn't leave her father and so they sold the sheep.

Meskhenet retreated to her room one day while her father slept. She was tired. Zaim was watching over her father and told her to rest but despite her body crying for sleep, she couldn't bring herself to fall asleep so she just lied there on the floor, staring at her ceiling.

She heard the door open and got up. Bakura came into her room. In his hand was a pouch, he handed it to her and she took it, confused. She looked inside and saw that it was medicine. So he had gone to Thebes for the medicine! She felt so grateful to him! She went up to him and gave him a long kiss on the lips then took off to her father's room, briefly catching the smirk that came on his lips. Zaim glared at her when she came in too noisily.

"Here!" she whispered, handing the pouch over to Zaim. He looked at it. "It's medicine!"

"What? But how?" he asked but it seemed to dawn on him 'how' and he glared at her, but nonetheless he took it. "Go to sleep…"

She closed her father's door quietly and ran back to her room. Bakura was looking at the kalasiris she had received. "What's this for?" he asked. She looked at it. She wasn't entirely sure herself.

"A soldier came and said that it was payment for my father and that it was for me," she told him. Bakura looked at her then at the dress. "I don't really know… he gave me a falcon and a horse too." Bakura didn't say anything but he placed the dress down and gestured for her to sit next to him and she did. She was still gushing over the fact that he had gone to Thebes just to get medicine for her father. How was she to thank you? She didn't know. All she wanted to do was cover him in kisses and embrace him and oh! She threw her arms around him and kissed him again which seemed to surprise him, but he accepted it more than gratefully as he wrapped her arms around her body. "Thank you…"

He said nothing as he touched her face. "You hope for too much," he told her but he grabbed the black kalasiris and gave it to her. "I want to see you wear it."

"I'm not really up for a show," she told him, suddenly feeling exhausted. She felt like falling asleep right here and now. Yawning, she rested her head on his shoulder while he held her. "I haven't seen Gamilla or Neith…"

"I ran into Gamilla at Thebes," Bakura said. She wished she could've been interested but her mind was becoming nothing but a blurry mess, pretty seen she drifted off to sleep.

When morning came so did Zaim. Not bothering to knock on the door, he saw Bakura and Meskhenet there as she lazily opened her eyes, her head in Bakura's lap while he had a hand stroking her face and hair. Her master threw a swear wore, turned around and took a deep breath before facing them with the most forced smile she had ever seen him muster. "Your father wants to speak with you," he was trying to hide the anger in his voice but his words nearly came out in a yell.

She got up and rushed over to her father. He wasn't crying in pain but he still looked really bad, pale and thin like death was just at his door. He smiled at her and patted her hand as she kneeled down at his bed side. "Yes, Father?" she asked, and he coughed a bit.

"Mes, I would like for you to go to Thebes and meet the Great Wife," he said.

She remembered Zaim had said that she would soon be moving to Thebes so her priestess training would be easier to partake in. As of now, it seemed Priestess Halima had placed her training on hold, having been informed of her father's declining health. Going to Thebes now to meet the Queen wasn't in her best interest, she couldn't leave now. He was ill. He handed her his Akhet Dagger weakly but she pushed it towards him and gave him a small smile. "Father, I can't leave. You need me here."

"I need you to…," he coughed. "To take this and return it for me. The Great Wife will be expecting you," he coughed some more. He acted like he hadn't heard her.

"No, Father, I need to stay here," she insisted but her father frowned.

"Oh, Mes, this old man would like for you to go to Thebes…"

"I can go when you're better," she said hopefully, but deep down she knew he wasn't going to get better. He simply nodded.

"Can you get me some apples?" he suddenly said which made her furrow her brows. She forced a smile, kissed him on the forehead as he coughed into his hand. "I am hungry for some apples."

"I will," she said as she got up, looked to Zaim who frowned then passed her room where she signaled Bakura to come with her. He followed her out of her house and she let out a loud sigh. Her father wished to see her ka and he had and then he had gotten sick like he had been holding himself back just so he could see her ka. It made her heart squirm and bubble inside, the feeling was uncomfortable. She had never had this pain; it was similar to the one with Taymur's death as she sat there with him, waiting for a miracle. Her mother and Hakim's deaths were quite sudden, something she never expected but this…this was torture.

She turned to Bakura who was silently following her. She gripped his tunic in her hands and wept in his chest. "What's going to happen…? I'm scared. I don't want him to die," she cried, clutching his tunic harder, "Bakura…!"

He placed a hand to her head, "I don't know," he told her honestly. "You have a chance to say goodbye, that's something I never had." Sniffling, she looked up at him and see could see the pain and sadness in his eyes and she knew it was because of his village. "Spend your last moments with him as best you can. Whatever else happens, we'll figure it out later." He roughly brushed her tears away.

Nodding, she helped wiped her tears as he laid an arm around her shoulders and walked her to the marketplace. A loud voice pulled her from her thoughts as she looked around the vendors, spotting Neith arguing with someone before the other party coldly walked away, leaving the brunette to curse at him before she walked right into Bakura and Meskhenet.

"Move it," she said in a low hiss before realizing who it was. "Meskhenet…"

"Hello, Neith…" she greeted, sad she hadn't seen the girl in quite a while.

Neith looked at Bakura with a hard, cold gaze but turned her attention to the redhead, an expressionless face as usual. "The town has been in talk about…" she didn't complete her sentence as she glanced behind them. "I know you don't want to hear this right now, but your crazy uncle has been stalking the town at night. I thought you should know. Gamilla sends her apologies. I have to go." The browned haired girl took off without waiting for a response. Meskhenet watched her, a feeling of dread filling her core as she let those words sink in. Ata was still in Mallawi? She was under the impression he had left since the town had been so quiet and the soldiers had informed Zaim they couldn't find the man or his lackeys anywhere.

"Ata's still in town," she muttered to herself. "I wish he'd just leave."

"Keep away from him," Bakura told her. "We should hurry and get those apples." She nodded and absentmindedly bought the apples. She thought Bakura must've stolen some too because she had a lot more with her than she remembered paying for. They hurried home only to run into Zaim at the entrance after he slammed her father's door shut, having yelled something in another language she didn't recognize, it must've been Hyksos. "Your loony brother is still in town."

"Shut up," Zaim told Bakura before he took the apples from Meskhenet and shoved them over to Bakura. "He wants a word with you. Meskhenet, I need one with you, now." He didn't sound like he wanted to argue. Bakura, out of spite, kissed Meskhenet on the lips before walking away, eating one apple for himself. Zaim spun Meskhenet around and pushed her outside. "Forget about Ata right now. Your concern is your father."

"I know," she said downheartedly as they began walking over to the Nile. "I feel helpless. Why can't I do anything to take away his pain?" she asked, clutching at her heart as she whimpered. Her insides felt like a whirlpool of hopelessness like it was sucking all the joy, devouring the hope and prospective of her father ever getting better. The end of Egypt felt like it was happening…

Zaim was silent though as he walked beside her. "I never…your father is ill," she knew that, "He won't last much longer. You have to go to Thebes. He wants you to as a final wish."

"No, I won't leave him," she said stubbornly, glaring at her master. "I left Momma and when I came back…she was gone. I never got to see her again, never got to say goodbye. I won't allow that to happen with him…"

"Then make peace with him now," he told her, "In your heart at least." When they reached the Nile, Zaim picked up a rock and skipped it across the water's surface, allowing ripples to form at where the stone touched the liquid, spreading and thinning out until they were no more. "You have a chance to say goodbye." She realized Bakura said the exact same thing to her. She knew his story; his village was destroyed by raiders when he was a child, something unexpected happen when he was so young. What of Zaim? Why did he hold the same sadness as Bakura?

She watched him toss more stones in the water, too depressed to actually ask him what was wrong. She knew not to pry especially with Zaim which made her realize she never really asked Bakura what exactly happened, always assuming he didn't want to tell her. Maybe she should try asking him instead to let him know she cared. She sighed and crouched down, watching the ripples fade in and out.

"I…" Zaim stated as she sat down on the ground, bringing her knees to her chest, "I never got to say goodbye to my mother. I left to Thebes with my master to become a court magician, that's when I got news of what happened in Al-Faiyum. I came back but it was too late…she was gone and my family was in ruins. I never got to see her for one last time. Probably the last time I saw her was a month or two before I left for Thebes. No goodbyes, no last 'I love yous', she was gone… that's why I want you to make the best you can with Yaqeen. I know it's hard, I know you don't want to say goodbye but you have a chance to when others did not. Please, Meskhenet…he'd like nothing more of you."

So Zaim was like Bakura, their parents died unexpectedly and here she was, complaining about how she had to say goodbye. She stood up; her heart bleeding into a pool of mush as she slowly wrapped her arms around her master who stiffened at the odd gesture. Maybe it was because she was weak, maybe it was because she needed comfort or perhaps it was because she actually felt bad for him, but she hugged him tightly as he awkwardly patted her head.

"I still can't go to Thebes," she whispered, "I want to say goodbye. I want to be there." And the tears fell off her eyes and into his robes as his eyes softened and he gave her a sad smile.

"I understand but it would be best to honor a dying man's wish."

She said nothing as she started to realize her future. She would have to go to Thebes sooner or later but she wanted to go after he passed. As selfish as it seemed, she realized that her becoming a priestess and the Wielder of the Dagger was no longer an option, a begrudging acceptance as a way for her to have a better life. It was a duty and she would have to honor it…because it was her father's wish. She cried, praying to the gods to make it not so but her tears felt like a useless speck of dust within the storms of change that was taking place.

 _Nothing will ever be the same again._

* * *

It must have been midnight as the moon glowed brightly. She was somewhere in between sleep and consciousness, ready to awake whenever her father called for her though he had Zaim with him almost at all times. She couldn't find Bakura anywhere in the last two days, but as sad and a bit angry as she was with him; she had her father to worry about. She told stories and read to him, performed magic and tried to get the most out of his time. Unfortunately, that wasn't a lot as he spent most of his time coughing up blood and having need to be changed and cleaned or he was always asleep. At one point, her father had tried to leave the room, wanting some sunlight but he collapsed and the doctor officially diagnosed him as bedridden so Zaim made a little glowing ball that resembled the sun to please her father.

Something whispered in her ear, compelling her to listen to it despite the fact she didn't understand it. Groggily, she quietly left her house, following the voice as if under a spell. Her mind screamed for her to stop but her body no longer obeyed her as she trudged through Mallawi, going into an alleyway and then into a dreary looking house with tattered curtains. The door was unlocked and it was dark inside, though she realized she was going downstairs underground into a cold, damp and dark area that spiraled down to a singular circular room with a stone carving on the wall of an ugly beast with wings and horns and a dragon coming out of it. In the center of the room was a carving in the ground with items that looked strangely like the Millennium Items, scattered pages lie on the floor with a familiar black book surrounded by candles, illuminating her shadow across the floor.

The spell that seemed to be on her disappeared, snapping her into full attention. She knew whose place this was based on the black book that she could've sworn was supposed to be with her father. "Ata," she said, her voice shaking just a bit. She could summon her ka now, but she knew she was still weaker than he was.

For a long while nothing happened but then a gust of wind blew through the shrine like area, making the fire dance before a figure in a hooded robe appeared. His left eye covered in bandages and in his right hand was a small vial. She stepped back as he stepped forward. "I mean you no harm," he told her. His voice no longer sounding caring or kind, it was cold and emotionless.

"What do you want?" she asked, ready to run at any given moment. "I told you to leave from Mallawi."

"Losers don't decide what the winners do," he said. "I'm afraid it has nothing to do with what I want but rather what _you_ want."

"I want nothing to do with you," she said, moving towards the stairs. "Bakura doesn't either."

"You should ask him about his village," Ata went on, uncaring of what she said. "I won't harm you. I need you as I need him too so as my peace offering," he held his hand out, producing the vial to her. She shook her head, her insides shaking. "You do not want it?"

"No," she answered in a rush, taking one step up the stairs.

"It's a cure for your father," he said, and she hesitated. "I didn't lie about the love potion, I didn't lie about what I did nor did I lie about your father's condition."

"You tried to use me, you said you did those things in the past but you're still doing them now," she stared at the vial. He was right though, he had been a little more truthful to her than her own father and master. A small glimmer of hope shined within that bottle, what if he was right? What if it was a cure? "What is this place?"

"A shrine to the Dark Lord," Ata said, spreading his arms out, "I finally figured out how to summon him but I can't do it alone. I need you to help me."

"I won't," she said, her eyes drawn to the carving of the hideous beast, just staring at it sent shivers down her spine as she held herself, not bearing to look at it any longer so she turned her gaze to the black haired man.

"I wasn't asking," he frowned. "Alas, it's too early. I'll see you in the future, for now though, take the vial."

The whispering gathered in her mind as she reached for it, stopping only when she was inches from taking it. What if it was poison? What if he was lying? Then there was the other side, what if he was telling the truth…what if it could cure her father and denying this chance meant killing him? She didn't know what to do. Clutching her eyes shut, she snatched the bottle and Ata merely chuckled before the gust of wind passed and he was gone. Opening her eyes, she saw that she stood outside, the house she had entered gone. She pursed her lips and ran off back home, quietly entering as she checked her father's room, he was asleep and Zaim was there too, sitting on a stool against the wall with his arms crossed and head bowed in slumber. She looked at the vial, debating on whether she should give it to her father or not but decided against it…at least not tonight.

When morning came, she took off to see if Gamilla was home only to run into Gamilla's younger brother who informed her that Gamilla was not home, upon asking if he knew where Neith was, he said he did not. Frustrated, she went to the baker's shop and called to Bakura, only for there not to be a response. She cursed him and took off back home. With no one to talk to, she didn't know what to do with the potion. Should she give it to her father? Should she not? She didn't know. Sighing, she entered her house and tried to concentrate really hard to tell herself that it was reasonable not to truth Ata, that he was lying but she was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Zaim and her father apparently arguing about something.

"You need to stop, Yaqeen!"

"Let me see her just one more time!" her father cried. He sounded like he was in pain.

"No! You are wasting your strength! I cannot have you using this anymore!" Zaim was shouting and her father whimpered. She wanted to march in there and yell at Zaim before she could the door flew open. Zaim was holding the diadhank in his hand while looking at her father who was crying.

"She's my wife… just let me see her one more time…" Wife? What was he talking about? Her mother was dead… Her father seemed to notice her and said, "Oh, Mes! Let me have my diadhank, please!"

Zaim turned in surprise to her and looked down at the device. "You are asking your daughter because you know she won't say no… Yaqeen, think about what you're doing."

"What's going on?" Meskhenet asked fearfully. She hated seeing her father cry. She looked at the diadhank, planning to take it from Zaim.

"My diadhank, Mes, give me my diadhank!"

"Meskhenet," Zaim said. "Your father has been keeping something from you…"

"My diadhank! Mes, please… "

Zaim went on uncaring to her father's whimpers and cries. "He has been summoning your mother's ka in secret. It is using up his energy and strength." Her father cried and begged her to give it to him. She couldn't believe it… she never knew her mother's monster spirit had been sealed somewhere or could even be summoned. She was conflicted on what to do. It wasn't healthy for him to be summoning monster spirits but at the same time his heart needed it. "How can you be so selfish as to keep this from your daughter and then beg her to basically kill you? Maybe you've gone senile or maybe you just don't care, but I won't allow you to destroy your own daughter!"

"Just give it to him!" Meskhenet shouted, balling her hands into fists.

"Shut your mouth!" Zaim yelled and he pushed passed her. Her father cried and begged for Zaim to come back but the black haired man had left. She ran over to her father's bedside.

"Oh, Father!" but he lied down and cried himself to sleep. She wanted to give Zaim a piece of her mind when he came back! She didn't know right from wrong anymore, all she knew was pain. She wanted it to end so badly and she remembered her father said that death came too early and too late and she was conflicted on which one was he… the pain was so bad it felt like it was too late but he still could have lived longer...the potion…she looked outside her father's room, remembering where the potion was, under her clothes in the corner. What if…? No, she couldn't.

She didn't know when, as she just sat there while her father slept, the tear marks stained on his cheeks as she lightly dabbed his face, but eventually Bakura and Nakia came over. Bakura had a basket of apples that he placed on the table then sat down next to Meskhenet. She kept forgetting about him lately and it only made her feel worse then again…he kept taking off.

Nakia placed her hands on Meskhenet's shoulders, lightly pulling her to stand. "I'll watch over your father," she smiled sadly. "Zaim wants you to meet him to the west of town."

Meskhenet looked at Bakura then at her father. She nodded and the two left town, mounting his black steed as they galloped west. They spotted Zaim near the banks of the Nile, and Bakura slowed down his horse. Zaim was staring off at the distance but when they dismounted he turned to them. He was wearing her father's diadhank around his left arm. She glared at him. The golden feathers on the armband spread out and a symbol glowed onto one of the feathers. The ground rumbled and suddenly a stone slab appeared right from the banks of the Nile. It was huge with a large carving of a rocky looking long serpent of a dragon. The stone slab glowed and a dragon came out, it was black and red with fire at every pattern of its serpent like body. It resembled Zaim's rocky winged bird except it was a dragon.

"This is your mother's ka," Zaim said distantly. Meskhenet looked to him then at the dragon. It coiled and stared down at her. She couldn't believe her mother had such a powerful ka, she wasn't even aware her mother's ka had been sealed. She wished she had the Dagger with her then she could've spoken to the beautiful dragon like serpent. "Your father didn't want you coming with him to shepherd the sheep at times because he came here to see your mother's ka."

"Why didn't he just tell me…?" she always thought that her father had wanted to be alone with the sheep because he wanted her to practice her magic, but in reality he had been doing it so he could use his diadhank…to see her mother's monster spirit without her? Why? She didn't like knowing her father lied to her…just like his illness.

"Volcanic Queen," Zaim said. "That's the name of your mother's ka."

Suddenly, she felt angry, a fire eating at the sadness that dwelled inside of her. She didn't really care what it was called. The beast wasn't her mother; it was an obsession of her father. "What are you going to do with it?" she asked.

Zaim didn't answer; he placed a hand on the diadhank. "I'm going to destroy it…" Volcanic Wings appeared from fire and screeched above in the sky.

Bakura was silent as he looked at their kas. He gave her a look with a raised eyebrow as if he was asking if she was going to allow this. Realizing, what this meant, she ran over to Zaim and grabbed his arms. "That's not necessary! You can just take the diadhank and keep it away from Father."

"No… because you will give it to him," Zaim said, and Volcanic Wings took off in the sky. It opened its beak and a fireball grew in size as it blasted at Volcanic Queen. The dragon shattered into pieces, not even bothering to defend itself then the stone slab cracked. Meskhenet didn't know how to feel, should she be angry with Zaim because he had destroyed her own mother's ka? She knew he was doing it for her father… but even still… He took the diadhank off and handed it to her. "You can give it to him now."

But what was the point? He didn't need it anymore, Volcanic Queen was no more. Zaim turned away and left. Bakura came over and placed a hand on Meskhenet's shoulder as she stared at the diadhank, her body shaking. No tears came though, she couldn't cry as she was conflicted with how to feel.

"He lied to me," she said in a shaky voice, "Why did he keep this from me?" She didn't like how everything seemed to be unraveling during her father's end. The world really was ending…

"He must have his reasons," Bakura told her. "Let me take you home."

The ride home was quiet and slow as Bakura held her within his arms while she clutched the device that one day she too would possess. Her thoughts were far off; however it kept coming back to one thing: the potion Ata gave her. She wanted to tell Bakura of it and yet somehow, it seemed too much effort.

When they reached her home, she dismounted and walked to her father's room like a corpse with no purpose. She placed the diadhank onto the side table near the untouched apples. Her father turned away from her and Nakia placed a hand on her arm. She felt so miserable and she hated seeing her father like that.

"Father," she tried. No response, she furrowed her brows as she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"Meskhenet," Nakia said quietly, "Let him be for a while. Go enjoy your night." She looked at the older woman in disbelief. Enjoy her night? How was she supposed to enjoy anything with her father dying?! Nakia merely shook her head and lightly pushed her towards the outside of the house where Bakura was, "You can take my mare for a walk if you'd like."

Before Meskhenet could protest, Nakia was gone and she was outside with Kek and Bakura who waited over there. She looked at him, biting her lip and debating on whether she should talk to him or not. Well, she had been ignoring him for a while so maybe spending some time with him would be good. It didn't feel like a right time to ask of his village.

"Khenet, come here," he told her, beckoning her over like she was some dog. She didn't move. "I think we should race."

"What?" she asked, furrowing her brows and letting out a light laugh. It felt weird to laugh, it was now foreign to her and that made her sad. "Race where?"

"Anywhere," he told her.

"I can't leave my father."

"It's just for a little bit. You can ride Kek," he told her, "And I'll ride that mare," he pointed to the bay mare that stood at the side of her house near the fence to the back where the sheep used to bleat and become restless for food. It was so quiet and lonely at her house now. He dragged her over to his black steed and she absentmindedly petted his muzzle. "We'll go to the Nile."

Bakura was doing his best to support her and be there. He could've just left, he had no ties here. She bit her lip and glanced at Bakura who was taking the bay mare by the reins and pulling her over towards her and Kek. "What's the prize?" she asked, "For the winner?"

He grinned at her, "Well, anything you want, if you win that is," he told her smugly. Oh, so he thought he was a better rider than her? She had been riding horses since she was a child. "If I win, you have to bathe with me."

"No," she said a little whiny. She couldn't help but smile though as she blushed at the thought. "Don't joke about that. It's like…asking me for sex."

"I was going to ask that actually," he said, smirking which made her blush more fiercely as she looked down. It wasn't the time for such banter; somehow it felt refreshing to have some of this at such a glum time. "I thought it'd be more erotic if he bathed first to explore each other's bodies."

"Oh Ra," she shook her head, laughing. "If I win, and I will win, you have to take me out to eat somewhere."

"That's it?" he asked like he expected more. "Don't you want something more exciting?"

"What? Sex? That's what you're asking for. I'm not going to ask for the same thing," she said, moving over to Kek's side and mounting him. She gripped his reins and slowly started walking ahead of Bakura, "We can start at the town line and then to the Nile and back."

"You're going to ride like that?" he asked as if disapproving of her side saddling. She gave him a smile before turning away from him. Kek clip-clopped through the night, she heard Bakura come up beside her on Nakia's mare. She glanced at him but her thoughts were far away with her father, praying to the gods for what she knew was impossible. It pained her heart like a bleeding pulp of despair. The vial, it kept playing at her mind whenever she hit the bottom, it appeared as if a glimmer of hope but she saw it as a poison in disguise. When they reached the town line, Meskhenet stopped Kek who stomped a foot and snorted while the mare came over next to him.

"I'm very good at what I do," Bakura told her, offering a devilish grin. She glanced at him, pushing her problems away as she tried focusing on what was on stake here. Her dignity as a woman and her privacy, she couldn't lose, she wouldn't lose. Bakura might have been good at running, he was a thief after all but she had ridden horses her whole life. She wasn't going to lose, not today.

"I assume you are," she said, "But I'm not too bad either."

"We'll see," he told her, and then without warning, kicked at his mare's sides that stood on her hind legs, neighing loudly through the night before she took off in a gallop, mane and tail whipping through the air.

"Cheater!" she shouted, nudging Kek to follow after them while Bakura's laugh echoed in the desert. Kek came thundering after the mare, steadily catching up as she laughed her worries away. He looked back once to give her a taunting smile before he kicked his mare to go faster and faster she did. It felt great, the wind through her hair and the moonlight kissing her skin while Kek galloped through the night; his breathing heavy while his legs kicked up sand and carried him forward, faster than she had ever rode a horse. She swung her head back, spreading her arms out as if she was a falcon, ready to take flight. Oh, she wished the moon and wind could carry her away, make her one of the creatures of freedom where there was no pain or sorrow just laughter and love.

From the red desert to the green banks of the Nile, Kek slowed his pace as she saw Bakura dismounted from his mare while she drank and he petted her neck. He caught sight of the redhead and grinned at her, "You're quite slow." He told her as she made Kek trot over near him before she jumped off the black stead and onto Bakura who fell backwards, hitting the surface of the water and scaring off the mare that came to stand on the other side of Kek. Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her up while she giggled and placed her hands on his shoulders, looking down at him while his face was quite close to her breasts. His eyes trailed from her brown eyes down to her breasts which made her flush red, a devilish grin curled up on his lips and she stiffened at the thought of what he was going to do. Suddenly, though he dumped her into the water making her shriek loudly at the cold feeling of the water submerging her body with its cool content.

He came over to her, his hot breath on her neck as she shivered and looked away shyly. "I won," he whispered to her, his hands traveling up her body to her breasts that she felt her nipples hardened at his touch that was only separated by the wet fabric she wore over her. He squeezed them, making her wince out of reflex before she relaxed a bit at his touch. She could feel her body heating up and yet it shivered while electric pulse began to lightly course within her. Her heart was thumping loudly inside and she wondered if he could feel it from her breast. Staring at her intently, he brushed his hand towards the opening of her dress, pausing there.

With Bakura, it always felt like there wasn't anything to fear, nothing to worry about and that everything could be left in the past. Slowly, she took his hand in hers, feeling the warmth as she kissed it and then she guided his hand beneath her clothes to find its way over to her bosom, finally feeling the warmth on her skin which sent her body burning a hundred degrees as he caressed her breast, squeezing it lightly and making her moan out in pleasure. Seeing her reaction was like letting the beast within him free as he gripped her hard, pulling her dress back to get a better reach. His grip made her blush and at the same time wince, but as he continued to massage her bosom, one hand under her clothes, the other over, she could feel herself craving for him stronger than she ever did. It hurt her heart because she knew that this craving she felt for him was only a method of distraction, a moment of pleasure that she was using to escape her worries of pain and sorrow. And yet, she couldn't help herself as she moaned at his kneading and squeezing.

He pulled his hand out from her dress, making her gasp a little at the sudden loss of skin contact from him. His hand traveled down to her leg, moving it over to his hip so that he got a better position over her. And then he leaned down and kissed her passionately, his tongue darting into her mouth and the warmth of his body shifting to her as she felt him grow between her, making her breathing ragged. He lightly grinded against her that sent sparks flying up her body and causing her to throw her arms around his neck and pulling him completely over her. He went to kiss her neck while she breathed into his ear and stared at the moonlight, moaning at his caresses and kisses.

The stars were out tonight, shining brilliantly down on the lovers. _The stars…_ as she stared at them from her heated body, she saw the shape of the Time Wizard in the stars and an uncontrollable feeling took over her as her body shook and cried while the tears spilled over from her brown eyes, her moans now replaced with her sobs. Bakura pulled away from her to see the state she was in, he looked worried but she couldn't look him in the eye, ashamed that she has ruined the moment.

"I'm sorry…" she told him, removing her hands from his neck and placing them over her eyes as she wept. Sorrow filling her core, she felt like a broken piece of stone, once held together so firmly now nothing but crumbled pieces of rock, an image of what she used to be as she tried desperately to show the world the girl she once depicted, but failing so miserably.

He brushed her hair from her face, moving her hands away and cupping her cheeks in his hands. "There's nothing for you to be sorry about."

"Take me home," she sniffled, "I want to show you something." He nodded, standing up and pulling her along by her hands. They rode Kek together, having the mare follow them. The whole ride was silent only broken by her sobbing and sniffling. When they got back to her home, she pulled him along to her room and dug for the potion, pulling it out and showing it to him like it was a precious jewel. "Ata gave me this."

"What?" he exclaimed. She could hear the anger in Bakura's voice as he reached for it but she clutched it within her grasp, shielding it from him.

"He said it can cure Father," she told him, shaking uncontrollably. "I know I'm not supposed to trust him…but a part of me wants to believe he's telling the truth, that Father can get better…" she gasped and hiccupped a bit, "I keep telling myself Ata's lying. I'm scared though, I'm scared that this is actually a cure and by not giving it to Father I will be killing him but…what if Ata's lying, and this potion kills him instead? What then? I can't decide because I know if I choose not to use it, I'll always regret and wonder if there was a chance that I could have saved my father…" Bakura grabbed her shoulders and brought her body closer to his, embracing her in a hug. "I don't know what to do, Bakura….I don't know…"

A hand traveled down her arm to her hands. He slipped his hand through her own, taking hold of the bottle and moving slightly away from her, "Then let me make the choice for you," he told her and then with the swing of his hand, he threw the vial onto the floor, shattering it into tiny pieces of shining colors as the blue liquid inside spilled, lightly spreading in the cracks of her floor. He hugged her again as she sobbed harder.

* * *

Some days later, she spotted Bakura coming out of her father's room. He saw her but didn't say anything. He left the house, and Meskhenet came in her father's room, kneeling at his bedside. Zaim was already there too, but he was silent which she found odd as Bakura had just been in the same room as he, she expected Zaim to be cursing him and mumbling profanities. Her father looked like death itself, but he mustered up a smile just for her.

"Good morning, Father," she said, placing a hand on his. His hand was bony and pale, it was really cold.

"Mes, I haven't seen you wear the dress I got you. Put it on for me, please?" he seemed to be in better spirits, she gave him a sad smile and left to go put the dress on.

She didn't really like it, it was black but it looked quite fancy. She slipped it on anyways and found it to be quite comfy; it fit her too, reaching down to her ankles. She put the earrings on as well. She went to her father's room and spun around for him.

He chuckled. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you…"

"Meskhenet," Zaim said, coming up from behind her. "You need to go to Thebes."

She turned around and glared at him. It wasn't the time for her to be leaving her father. "I cannot. He needs me here."

"No, Mes, Zaim is right. I would like you to go to Thebes," he coughed. He asked her before to go to Thebes, but she didn't want to leave him not when he was so ill. Despite what Zaim said about saying goodbye to him now, she couldn't. She just couldn't, she needed to say goodbye to him for real. "I want you to meet with the Great Wife."

"No, I can't leave!"

"Mes, I would like it if you met the Great Wife while I am still alive," he said. She shook her head. She didn't want to leave him and find him dead when she got back. She wanted to be here. She didn't want to come home again and find someone dead… not like with her mother. Why didn't anyone understand that? "Mes, please, do this for me?"

"I—I can't!" she ran out of the house and closed the door, sliding down it. She didn't want to leave. Her father needed her… Thebes wasn't important. She felt so miserable as she gripped her hair in her hands, biting her lip while trying to calm her dying heart. She heard a horse neigh and got up. She looked around and heard the galloping of an oncoming horse. She looked to the right and saw Bakura on his black steed. Was he going somewhere? He wasn't stopping but when he got close enough to her; he grabbed her arm and pulled her up onto his horse. "W—what are you doing?"

"Shut up!" he said to her. "I'm taking you to Thebes." What? Had her father talked Bakura into this? She squirmed between Bakura's arms.

"Let me down!" she shouted. He ignored her and continued on as his horse ran out of town. They traveled all day and night and eventually they stopped at the Nile to rest his horse. Meskhenet looked around, trying to see if she could find a way home. But it was impossible. She had no horse. She refused to speak with Bakura, angry at him for taking her away from her father. He didn't say anything to her anyways. They continued on until they reached the grand city and he rode her all the way over to the doors of the palace.

He dismounted and helped her down. He placed his hands on her shoulders. "This is what your father wants."

"He needed me there!" she shouted at him, jabbing a finger at his chest. "For all I know he's dead now!"

"Damn it, Khenet, this is your father's dying wish! Stop being so selfish!" She didn't say anything. He was right… she was being selfish. She should respect her father's wishes but the thought of finding him dead… Bakura sighed and took something out from the saddle of his horse. "Here."

It was the Akhet Dagger. Hesitating, she took it into her own hands and held it firmly in her grasp. She would need to return it to the Queen, that's what her father asked her earlier. She took it then turned away from Bakura. Sighing, there was no point in arguing anymore. She was here, this was her future, and this was her father's dying wish. As if someone was watching, the doors opened up and she came inside, ascending the steps until a soldier came to her.

"You are Yaqeen's daughter?" he asked. With a slow nod of her head, she confirmed this. "The Queen is expecting you." He led her down a dark hallway and into the throne room, but there was no one there. "You will await here for the Queen." She didn't look around, just stared at the floor miserably. He left her there, crying silently.

 _This is no time for tears. You mustn't show you are weak in front of the Queen. It wouldn't look good for Father…_ she stood up straight, wiping her eyes as she held the dagger to her chest, stroking it as if it was a pet for comfort. She waited in the throne room for quite a while, awaiting the Queen. She heard footsteps and sighed. This was it, this was the Queen. Bracing herself, she awaited someone to ascend the throne but rather someone lightly touched her arm, causing her to jump and spin around.

Looking down, she saw that it was the Prince who looked shyly away when she locked gazes with him. Smiling, she brushed a hair behind her ear as she knelt down. "Are you waiting for the Queen?" he asked her in a timid voice.

"Hello, my Prince," she bowed a little, "Yes, I…I'm to meet your mother."

He looked her in the eyes now; she could see that he was such a meek boy. One day this boy was to be her king, and despite his meekness he held a sort of wisdom in him that she couldn't understand. And then she realized, he held the same pain in his eyes as she did. _That's right, the Pharaoh has been ill._

He looked away, blushing slightly. "I will take you to her. She must have forgotten that you were to come here," he held his hand out for her and without hesitation she took it. It was warm, like Bakura's but not like his at all, if anything, it felt like Hakim's. Slowly, the little Prince led her deep within the palace, passing corridors and halls, pillars and servants; she didn't know how anyone could memorize their way in this ginormous palace.

"Do you have this whole place memorized?" she asked him, trying to initiate a conversation with him. He wasn't rude for not talking, he just seemed really, really shy. _Not a good quality for a king…_ he still had time to grow, perhaps he'd lose that meekness. He reminded her of a lamb and it made her giggle.

"Most of it," he replied modestly which she thought he probably did have the whole thing memorized. "I've never gone to the dungeons before."

"The dungeons?" she asked, squeezing his hand lightly as she smiled down on him. "I wasn't aware the palace had dungeons."

"It isn't used as often," he explained, "How is Priest Yaqeen?" he seemed to grow sad as he looked down at his feet.

"My presence of being here is the indication of his declining health," she told him. The Pharaoh was ill too, wasn't he? The Prince was so young, her heart cried for him, she was an adult and she felt like death was at her door, knowing her father's time was coming to an end. How was the Prince to feel? The Pharaoh was ill too; didn't it hurt more for the young Prince? He was only a child and if worse came to worse than…the Prince would become pharaoh and Egypt his rule. _I couldn't handle that responsibility…_ "I wish your father well too."

He seemed a little startled by her comment and for a moment she thought he was going to cry. He forced a small smile, "As do I for your father."

"You can cry," she told him, pulling him into a stop as he looked at her from their outstretched hands, "You're just a child. It's alright to cry."

He shifted rather uncomfortably and shook his head, "I am Prince of Egypt, and one day Egypt will be mine, I— I have to grow to be stronger!"

"I know…" she replied sadly. What life did the Prince have? She complained and whined over her dreams coming to an end because of this priestess training, but what of him? She wondered if the Prince had any dreams or did he stop aspiring to be anything because his destiny was to rule Egypt? Her problems seem so inferior in comparison with the Prince's. "I wish I was as strong as you."

"I—I'm not strong at all," he blushed, looking away from her. She chuckled as they started to walk again. After some time, they reached two large doors where two soldiers stood sentry too. When they saw the Prince they seemed a little surprised but he let go of Meskhenet's hand and came to address them. "She is here to see the Queen."

"My Prince," one soldier said, "You are supposed to be asleep."

"Any official business is to be awaited at the throne room, you know this, Prince," the other soldier said.

"She is Priest Yaqeen's daughter," the Prince insisted, "The Queen was to meet her in the throne room some time ago, but I fear that the Queen is rather distracted as of late."

The soldiers glanced at one another before the first one sighed. "She's just returned from your—the Pharaoh's chambers. Be quick," the soldier addressed Meskhenet who nodded, suddenly a little nervous at meeting the Queen of Egypt.

The Prince turned to her, "I need to go before she realizes I'm still up," he gave out a small giggle and she couldn't help but smile. _What a naughty boy, staying up passed bedtime._ "She isn't scary so don't worry."

"It was good to see you, my Prince," she bowed. For a moment, she stared at the ground, thinking but then she moved closer to him and knelt down, bringing him into a tight embrace. "I know you need to be strong, but please remember you're human too." She stroked his cheek with her thump, wiping a stray tear that seemed to fall of its own accord. "One day you will be Pharaoh and Egypt will worship you. The burdens that come with it may be strong, but never forget the human inside. Sometimes when we try so hard to be strong…we eventually break."

He placed a hand over hers and smiled. "Thank you…" he told her, sniffling a bit before wiping his eyes with his arm. "I wish you well and for your father too. Goodnight!" And he took off, waving to her before disappearing behind a turn in the hall. She lingered there for a moment, thinking about what she told him. He needed to remember he was human and she needed to remember people needed her; she needed to try and be stronger as the Prince was.

The two large doors opened and she walked inside, looking up. It was the Queen's private chambers. There was a balcony overlooking the back of the palace, a fancy bed with curtains was situated at the back of the room and there was a table with some cosmetics, wigs and a hand mirror. There were some dresses laid out on a table near the bed and an archway leading to another room. The room was practically all gold and blue, a fitting place for a queen.

Meskhenet just stood there awkwardly, awaiting the Queen nervously as she fiddled with her fingers, pulling and twisting them. She heard footsteps and the Queen came in. She looked sad but when she saw Meskhenet she smiled. The Queen was a regal and elegant woman wearing a dress of white and gold with a transparent pink shawl over her shoulders. Her hair was a nice dual shade of pink and gold and she wore it at the side of her shoulder. She had a nice shade of mid violet eyes that resembled the Prince's. She looked exhausted. A woman in a simple hooded robe accompanied her.

Meskhenet bowed out of instinct, her heart beating lightly at the sudden realization that this was the first time she was meeting the Queen. What was she supposed to say? "Raise yourself, child," the Queen said gently, and Meskhenet stood up awkwardly. "I have been expecting you. I must apologize for my lateness though."

"It is quite alright," as hard as it was for her to lose her father, the Queen, like her son, must've had it harder. The Pharaoh was not only a man that his family looked to, but all of Egypt and if he went…then the burdens of Egypt fell onto the Queen. She had to take care of her children, the people in her husband's fall and herself which seemed pretty hard.

Not sure what to do, she realized she needed to return the Akhet Dagger so she held it out for the Queen, bowing her head. "I am to return this until I have completed my priestess training."

"Your father wishes for you to take his place as the Wielder of the Akhet Dagger rather soon," the Queen told her, looking at the Dagger but making no move to touch it. Oh, she realized that perhaps the Queen couldn't take the Item like Zaim. "I will be honored to welcome you to my court. However, you lack proper training as a priestess therefore I cannot add you just yet." Why had her father asked the Queen to place her in the Court now? He knew Priestess Halima had pushed back her training. She hadn't even done any temple work, let alone shadow games or anything priestess related. "Priest Yaqeen informed me that should he pass, you are to move from Mallawi to a place closer to Thebes, he also informed me that you will be unemployed and asked me to lend him a favor. I respect your father and will honor a dying man's wish." Hearing the Queen say that hurt, and somehow made it sound quite official that her father was going to die but she kept her head bowed low, keeping her thoughts to herself. "You will serve as a servant here at the palace while taking your priestess training. Once you have completed your training, you will then be welcomed into my court."

A servant, huh? She wanted to laugh, all her magic training over the years, the enduring of Zaim's abuse and for what? Nothing… she was reduced to becoming a servant, just like a slave. But she bowed again to the Queen. "That is most generous of you, my Queen."

The Queen walked over to her and placed a hand on her head. "I know you are going through hard times," Meskhenet kept her eyes downwards. "I am sorry about your father's condition."

Meskhenet didn't know what to say. The Queen was a kind woman. "Thank you, my Queen. I too am sorry for your—the Pharaoh's condition," the Queen smiled sadly. Meskhenet presented the Dagger again to the Queen and she thanked her for returning it. She turned to the woman in the hooded robes who hurried over with a cloth to wrap around the Dagger, taking it from Meskhenet.

"As promised, send a falcon out to Yaqeen," the Queen said. The servant nodded and hurried off. The Queen turned to Meskhenet. "You will have time for grievances. We will summon you when we are ready."

She didn't question the Queen of how long, her thoughts too distracted by the fact that now her business was over she needed to go back to Mallawi and tell her father of what the Queen told her. She took her leave of the palace and walked out of the closing gates. Each step of hers was a walk to death like Anubis had ascended the earth to take away a soul and lead him down to Osiris. She knew whose soul it was and it just crushed her heart, squeezing it tightly into a pool of mush and blood.

Bakura was still there with his horse, looking up at the stars. She came over to him; he must have heard her come as he turned to her, his hand gripping the reins of Kek. He said nothing as she got close to him.

"My father asked you to bring me here, didn't he?" she leaned her head on his chest, feeling the rise and fall of each breath. He didn't reply. Looking up, she kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you…" his only response was wrapping his arms around her lightly and brushing her hair. She felt empty though, but she was glad he was here. "Take me home."

* * *

Author's Note: so much crying in this chap, I probably could've separated this in two? I chose not to, preferring to keep her father's illness in one chapter. Anyways, I don't know if it mention 'Great Wife' earlier, obviously that's the Queen of Egypt, I looked it up and they said that in Ancient Egypt, they didn't actually call her 'Queen' but 'Great Wife' which was the title given I believe to the first wife (not the concubines or other wives) to the Pharaoh.


	28. Chapter XXVIII: The Star

Chapter XXVIII: The Star

When she arrived home, her father was already dead just like she had feared. Zaim told her that her father had passed on after he had received the news from the Queen. Meskhenet didn't pay him much attention and cried at her father's bedside. Bakura or Zaim placed a hand on her shoulder but she told them to leave her alone. She spent most of her time at her father's side, crying but eventually Skylar came and took her away so they could prepare her father's body for his burial.

Meskhenet had cried out all she could until she no longer felt anything. She felt empty, hollow like her heart had been ripped out. It felt worse when she was alone and Bakura hadn't been there so that didn't help her at all. Skylar and Nakia gave her company at times but Meskhenet didn't hear or talk to them. She just wanted to be alone, but at the same time she didn't.

"Your father wanted to be buried near your mother," Zaim said as he came to sit down next to Meskhenet in her room. She was hugging her knees. "We have to take his body to Beni Suef."

"I want to get him a book of the dead," she said hollowly.

Zaim was silent. "It might be expensive…" Meskhenet didn't need to hear that right now. "I will see what I can do. Please go take a walk outside." He offered his hand to her, but she looked away. He stood there in silence then left. _Maybe a walk would be good…_

She got up and left her house. She wandered around the marketplace. Some of the people saw her and gave their condolences, but it didn't matter. Nothing was going to bring her father back. She smacked into someone and looked up. It was Bakura…

"Oh…" she said distractedly. She didn't really know what to say to him. She hadn't seen him in a few days. "Do you want to come with me to the artist's workshop?"

"Here," he shoved a scroll to her. She looked at it. To her surprise, it was a book of the dead. It had the many depictions of what most books had: Anubis, Osiris, the scales and Ammit. There was a drawing of her father in their ancient Egyptian style painting. Her father's name was written at the top and she recognized the symbol of the goddess Meskhenet. She laughed, feeling her heart pump lightly inside like it had returned after being absent for so long. He got this for her? She actually felt happy and wanted to thank him but he took off.

"W—wait!" but he didn't and she just stood there awkwardly with the scroll in her hand. Despite all his flaws and absences, he was always looking out for her .She needed to properly thank him when she saw him again. She returned home and found Zaim was there.

"I packed the necessities you need for the trip," he said. He looked at the scroll in her hand. He didn't question it; he probably figured it was Bakura. "Well… that was fast."

"I think he had this made before Father died…"

"Very thoughtful of him…" Zaim sounded disapproving.

They rode out to Beni Suef. It was where her mother was buried. She hadn't been to her mother's grave in a while. The peasants didn't have fancy tombs like the royals and nobles, but they had small cemeteries where they buried their loved ones. Meskhenet's father was buried near her mother and she placed some white lotuses on their graves.

It didn't matter if she saw her father as a pharaoh; the world saw him as a peasant. He didn't get a sarcophagus or even gold or any of his belongings buried with him (besides his book of the dead). Nothing was prepared for the afterlife for him. It was sad. Osiris was a just god though, so she knew her father was in good hands and whether he had no items to prepare him for the afterlife, Osiris would allow him to go to the afterlife because her father was a good man.

Skylar offered Meskhenet to stay at her and Zaim's house, but Meskhenet kindly refused. She would await the Queen's summons and stay at her lonely house. They returned to Mallawi after the brief burial and Meskhenet locked herself in her house. Days passed and Meskhenet spent most of her time re-reading the books from her study. No sheep bleated outside for her to take them to the Nile, no jokes made by her father. It was so lonely. She ate little and saw no one except when Zaim's family or her friends came to check up on her, but they rarely came since Meskhenet was usually unresponsive to them, deciding to give her some space. She didn't see Bakura in all that time since he gave her the book of the dead.

Her father's death felt so far away like it had happened months ago but at the same time, it felt like it had happened yesterday. Soon she would be sixteen, but it didn't matter to her. She no longer cared for the seasons of flood or harvest or anything. She was not the farm girl she once was or the female shepherd she proud herself of, she wasn't even a magician—just a servant at the palace.

Life was hopeless. She lost count of the days but she knew it had been a month (or two?) since her father died. She went out one night to look up at the stars. She saw the Time Wizard and wondered if she would ever see the little wheel again. Where was he now? In a stone tablet like Volcanic Queen had been? Could she speak to him with the Akhet Dagger when she became a priestess? She didn't know. Sighing, she scanned the sky for any other shapes but her mind felt muddled. She spotted a bright shining star at the center of the Time Wizard's wand.

 _Ah, I remember that star…_ Hakim had told her about it. It was so long ago… the day before he left to become a soldier. He had taken her out the night before and pointed at the shapes of the stars. He pointed to the brightest star in the sky and told her that was their secret star.

 _That star will be our little secret! Whenever you feel lonely, look up at that star and know that wherever I am I will be looking at that star too! We may become lands apart but we'll always be blanketed by the same sky so look for that star._

When her brother had died, she had stopped looking for that star. What was the point? He no longer would be looking at it. She had forgotten about that star. She wondered why it stood out to her tonight. She was about to go back inside her house but she heard a galloping horse and a neigh, breaking the silent night.

She turned to the horse; it was the black steed of Bakura's. She forgot what happened to her horse that the soldier had given her and her falcon. Zaim probably took them to care for them. Bakura dismounted his horse. She hadn't seen him in forever (at least it felt like that). She wasn't sure if she should run to him or not but she just stood there stupidly as he came over to her. Half her mind wanted to yell at him for leaving her for so long, but she had to keep herself calm. Her family or problems wasn't his, he had his own pain to deal with.

"Hello," she said awkwardly, but he said nothing. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her into her house. He took her to her room and threw her a dress. She looked at it. It looked expensive. It was white with a surplice neckline that was outlined by gold with no sleeves. Two black transparent strips of cloth hung down from the shoulders. A golden belt was at the waist, the wrap line was at the front with the dress reaching down to the ankles

"Put that on," he said as he dug through a pouch, pulling out some jewelry. He handed her an anklet, some fancy gold flat shoes, bangles and a golden headband that was attached with a white veil. He just kept handing them out that Meskhenet felt overwhelmed by all the expensive looking accessories. He stopped and looked at her. "Well, get changed!"

She looked at all the items he had handed her. He wanted her to wear all these? Where did he get all these? They looked expensive. He looked at her impatiently. She put the items on the floor and turned to him. He was still in her room…

"Get out…" she said as if he just noticed that he was still there, he rushed out of her room, slamming the door. She changed her dress, it somehow was a perfect fit (she never knew how Bakura got her sizes right…), she put the anklet on and the bangles. She looked at the headband and veil but put it on her head anyways. She exited her room but Bakura wasn't there so she went outside. What was with the dress?

She looked at him, he had no tunic on but he had a shendyt and a violet robe with gold bracelets on his wrists. She thought they both looked like perfect targets to get robbed. He noticed her and smiled when he saw her, she blushed, feeling her heart throbbing inside a bit as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Come on," he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards his horse.

"Are we going somewhere?" she didn't really want to go anywhere. She just wanted to sit at home like usual. It was good to see him though, she wanted him to kiss her but he seemed quite distracted though.

He helped her up his horse then got on and rode his horse out. _I guess we are…_ they rode through the night but she wasn't quite sure where they were heading. It didn't look like they were heading towards Thebes. If anything, they looked like they were getting further away from the Thebes. They stopped at a small town that Meskhenet didn't recognize. Bakura dismounted his horse and helped her down. He tethered his horse up near a wooden pillar and pulled her along somewhere.

It was hard to keep up as he was pulling her along in a quick manner, making her stumble and trip behind him, her bangles jingling. She heard a door open and was greeted by the sounds of laughter and loud chattering then he pulled her inside. She hid behind him as he looked around. Where were they? They were in an inn of some sort (or restaurant) with long tables and a lot of rough looking people. The place smelled nice like food and wine and it was lit by candles, making a warm atmosphere throughout the room. There was some music being played by a band of musicians as well.

He led her through the room; she kept close to him as she looked at the people. They looked like… thieves! She didn't really know what thieves looked like, he was kind of the only one she met besides Zaabit but they looked like tough people, poor but wore elaborate jewels and clothing and had bad manners and were loud. It was like thief central here and it frightened her a bit. Bakura pulled her down onto the floor and sat down crossed legged next to her at the front of a table. A man came over to them and asked Bakura something but Bakura gave the man a small pouch of gold. She couldn't hear what they were saying; it was so loud in here.

"You haven't eaten anything, right?" Bakura asked, but she couldn't quite hear him.

"What?"

"Are you hungry?" he asked a little louder. She looked at her stomach. She hadn't really been eating. She hadn't really been paying attention to her hunger either, but thinking about it now she realized she was hungry. She sheepishly nodded, and he smiled. "Good."

What were they doing here? If he wanted to eat they could have just got something from the marketplace or ate whatever fruit was at her house. She felt embarrassed and shy and a little worried. She was in a fancy dress in a strange place. Bakura didn't seem to mind at all so she tried to relax but she flinched every time she heard plates shattering. The man that had come to Bakura earlier came back with a few other people. They laid down plates and bowls of all kinds of food down onto the table. There were meats of different kinds—and much to Meskhenet's horror, a whole roast pig too—there were dishes Meskhenet didn't know existed. Everything from rice, to kofta, to fish, to honey bread and the list went on. The food smelled good! The man placed two empty plates in front of them and left.

How could so much food exist…? Bakura started filling her plate with food, and she laughed but stopped when he placed a pig leg on her plate. She quickly moved the leg over to his plate only for him to move it back.

"You have to eat some meat," he growled. She just looked at the disgusting flesh of the pig. How could people eat the poor creature? And the texture and color of its skin was so gross looking… she shuddered and scooted the leg further from the rest of her food. Bakura started eating and she figured she should too. She ate most of her food in no particular order, trying to try all the different foods without eating any of the meat. She caught Bakura looking at her at one point and she took small bites of the pig leg but quickly gave up and ate a small piece of fish instead.

The man came back with some water and wine and cups for the two. Meskhenet thanked the man, and he smiled at her. The wine smelled fruity, the same smell she remembered when they were children. Remembering her night with Gamilla, she didn't want any wine. The after feelings were enough to make her steer clear of the substance. Bakura poured himself a cup. She tried to pour herself water, however Bakura poured her wine and she picked up her cup, looking at the dark, fruity liquid. She placed her cup down without drinking. She wondered if she could ask for another cup.

"That's not all you're going to eat, is it?" he asked. She looked at her plate, she ate most of the food besides the pig leg but she was getting rather full. There was still a lot of food at their table. He was still eating, though she wasn't sure she could eat anymore. How could anyone eat so much? She took small bites of some other food but eventually stopped, feeling her stomach getting full.

She somehow thought her behavior reminded her of Skylar when she was at her banquet… Meskhenet looked at the table of food then at Bakura. She looked at her dress and the many accessories he had given her. A banquet… she laughed to herself as she realized why they were here. She looked at Bakura, but when he looked back at her, she averted her eyes and blushed. So this was their feast. Her heart pounded inside, the wings that had stopped fluttering began again, making her feel a little squeamish. He always made her feel good. She was taken back to the sunrise he had taken her to, their first kiss and the feelings she felt back then. She also had that craving she got with him whenever they became intimate but there was something different about this feeling, it was a yearning for love, a feeling to become complete. She wanted him in every way and it made her giggle at herself. Ra was reborn.

She was disturbed from her thoughts when someone placed an arm around her shoulders and she fidgeted at the touch. The arm belonged to a man who was incredibly drunk, his breath smelled like wine and he was leaning real close to Meskhenet. He was laughing and going on about something. Bakura glared at the man.

"Get your arm off my woman," Bakura said, but the man didn't seem to hear and eventually some other men came and apologized for his behavior, pulling him away back to their table. Meskhenet sighed in relief. "You should have burned him."

"I don't really do magic anymore…" she said quietly. She wondered what he would have done if the other men hadn't come. When they had finished eating, Bakura took Meskhenet out of the restaurant and she thought they were going to go home, but instead he took her to a ladder that led up a roof of some shop. They climbed up the roof and Bakura sat down, signaling her to do the same. She sat down next to him and looked up at the stars.

It was a good view from up here, she could see the town, and it was rather small compared to Mallawi. The breeze felt nice but she kind of wished they were back at the warm atmosphere of the restaurant. She could still see the Time Wizard among the stars and it pained her heart. She hoped one day she could look at the Time Wizard and remember the good times and not the death of her father. She looked at Bakura; he was looking up at the stars.

"Thank you…" she said. She had meant the comment to be for more than just for the feast, for him being there for her, helping her father and getting his book of the dead. He had done a lot for her and she was truly grateful. She needed to find a way to properly thank him, return the favor for everything he did for her.

Bakura turned his head to her. "Why do you feel the need to always thank me for everything?" he sounded a bit irritated.

She thought for a moment, "I just want to, it's polite and I want to show my gratitude."

He smirked at her. "You can show your gratitude in other ways." She stared at him for a moment then leaned over to him and kissed him on the lips. She stopped, blushing, her heart felt like it was fluttering but he pulled her into another kiss, this time longer as he rubbed her back. Her heart was going to explode, after so long of being away from him, wallowing in pain and sorrow, this was refreshing. She pulled away feeling like she was out of breath. She sat down next to him, moving her hair behind her ear and averting her gaze, blushing furiously.

"Oh, I think Zaim too wanted to thank you for getting my father the book of the dead," Bakura didn't say anything. "It was very thoughtful of you. Most people like us don't bother with one since they are quite expensive but I wanted my father to have one so thank you."

He looked annoyed at when she said that, probably because she was still thanking him but he didn't say anything for a while then said, "When I was a kid," he was still using that term like he was some goat. "I lived next to an artist. He made hundreds of books of the dead for many people. All the kids thought he was creepy, some thought he was Ammit herself." Meskhenet laughed. Bakura never talked about his village before and she always thought it was because it was too painful, but maybe he was slowly opening up about it. "My mother told me that his job was important and that the book of the dead was too."

"Hmm," Meskhenet said in thought. "Tell me about your parents." She didn't know anything about his family, if he had siblings or what his parents were like. She actually never told him about her mother and realized that wasn't fair. He was silent. "I mean… if you don't want to then you don't have to."

"My mother was kind," he said simply. "She was a weaver, but she worked at home. My father was an architect. He designed tombs for the rich." So if Bakura's father was still here, he would have been an architect… somehow that seemed like an odd job for Bakura, but he did seem to have an interest in tombs. Well, he was a tomb robber so of course he did. "I didn't have any siblings. I played with the other kids of my village; my best friend was the son of a shoemaker so his father was always giving us shoes even though we shouldn't have had them." Meskhenet smiled. He sounded like he had come from a loving home and village, but that must have meant it was all the more painful to have lost them.

"There was an old goatherd who talked to his goats like they were people. Everyone said that he had lost his mind after living with goats for so long," he looked at her and smirked. "I think you were quite on your way there with your sheep." She lightly punched his arm but they both laughed. "My father didn't like me going too far away from home. He was always worried about me," he touched her hair. "Like how your father was always worrying about you." She wasn't really sure her father worried about her a lot. She knew he loved her very much but he always seemed to leave her to do what she wanted, Zaim seemed more like he worried about her, but maybe her father had told Bakura stuff that she didn't know. Apparently, they had talked without her knowing.

Bakura suddenly became very silent and was staring blankly at her like she wasn't there. He seemed to tense up too. He seemed far away and it somehow scared her. Was he alright? She lightly touched his arm and he jumped a little so she pulled back. He shook his head and looked at her, but he was very silent.

"Um… are you alright?" she asked timidly.

"Let's not talk about my past anymore," he replied quietly, turning away from her. He looked up at the stars and pointed up at a shape near the Time Wizard. "Look." And she did, she looked hard at the stars and realized he was pointing to a shape of a sheep and she laughed. She thought of her sheep fondly and Taymur, maybe Taymur was up there with her father and her mother and Hakim too! She realized that all of her family was together up there… but she was still here. Bakura was the same. All of his friends and family were up there too but he was still here and she was glad that he was, as selfish as that seemed.

She leaned her head on his shoulder and he placed an arm around her. "You're going to be working at Thebes soon," he said. Ah, she had forgotten about that. The Queen hadn't summoned her yet. "We should move closer so you won't have to travel so far from home and back." He was right, it would be ridiculous for her to travel two days to Thebes and back just to get home, but she wasn't ready to leave her home, not just yet. She realized that he said 'we' so he was coming with her? Was the banquet back there really their union? He hadn't asked her to marry him; she had told him that she wanted to marry him before. It didn't really matter; she loved him and would stay with him as best she could.

"Thebes wouldn't be a good place to live," she said, thinking of the grand city and the many people who lived there. "Security is tighter there because of the capital. It isn't a good place for a thief."

He laughed. "Security is nothing to me, there is always a way to sneak in anywhere."

She chuckled. "I don't want to take the chance," she thought of the soldiers at Mallawi who had captured Bakura. She didn't want that to happen again. He was a good thief but she didn't know security, they could have been just as good.

She realized her job was going to force her to be away from Bakura. She would be at the palace probably all day. Bakura never seemed to like the palace and usually stayed away from there. She wondered if her new job as a servant was going to pull them apart. She suddenly didn't want to talk about places to live. She just wanted to enjoy the moment. She looked up at the stars and spotted the brightest star at the Time Wizard's wand. She pointed at it.

"See that star?" she asked him. Bakura looked at it and nodded. "It's the brightest star in the sky. It can be our secret star. Whenever we're apart, look up at that star and know that… wherever I am I will be looking at that star and I will know that you are too. We may be lands apart but we'll always be under the same sky." Somehow when her brother had said it, it seemed magical, when she said it she felt kind of stupid and embarrassed.

Bakura was silent but then he nodded. "Alright, it'll be our secret." He took her hand into his and kissed it.

They went back to his horse, walking hand-in-hand. They rode back to Mallawi, but Bakura went to the goatherd's home first to leave his horse there. They walked through the quiet streets of the town. It must have been pretty late; most of the people must have been asleep.

She wondered what kind of future the two of them would have. He was a thief and she was a peasant now servant to the Queen of Egypt. She was tired; she pushed the thoughts away as they approached her house. She entered before Bakura and went over to her room, but stopped in front of her father's room. It was slightly opened, empty and dark. The single bed that her father once lied on was blank of all items, no sheets and definitely no person there. It was cold and lonely.

Bakura came over from behind her. He was silent for a moment but then took her hand and led her to her room. "Bakura…"

* * *

Author's Note: the book of the dead isn't like the one from the Mummies. Books of the dead were basically scrolls depicting the journey of the deceased to Osiris to pass on; most people tried to get them for their passed on loved ones, peasants got cheap ones. Also, I forgot to mention earlier (this happens a lot lol) but Meskhenet's mother's ka, Volcanic Queen, is a real monster card from YGO-GX. I just chose it 'cause it was similar to what I made of Volcanic Wings that Zaim's ka is and since Zaim is related to Roheesa I thought why not.

They're finally married~


	29. Chapter XXIX: The Tomb Raiders

Chapter XXIX: The Tomb Raiders

When morning arrived so did a loud knock at the door of her house, Meskhenet groaned. She didn't want to get up. She just wanted to stay where she was at. She felt Bakura move beside her until she no longer felt him there, his warmth disappearing as she huddled with herself. He probably was going to get the door.

"Tell them to go away," she said groggily. He chuckled, and she heard the door to her room open and close. She sighed. Last night was a wonderful night. She got to spend time with Bakura after a long time, she learned a little bit about his family and of course there was the more personal part of the night that made her face flush at the mere thought of everything that happened. She could feel the cool breeze touching her moist nether regions and legs as she closed them tightly. After many close encounters and craving one another, they had finally consummated their relationship. She wished it hadn't ended.

"What?!" she heard Zaim's voice from outside her house. "Why are you here?!" He was shouting and then she heard thumps. _Oh no!_ She opened her eyes and looked around the room for her dress to slip on. She didn't know where it was since Bakura had thrown it somewhere. She found his violet robe and heard Zaim right outside her door. Quickly, she pulled the robe over herself. Her door slammed open and Zaim was there, he looked down and suddenly he looked like a vicious bird ready to rip her to shreds.

He didn't say anything for a long time, but he was seething. "Get dressed and meet me outside." He slammed her door and she sighed. _This isn't going to end well…_

She looked around for something to put on, wiping herself with her sheets before slipping on some clothes then meeting Bakura outside her door. His gaze trailed down her body and he smirked at her while she blushed. She gave him a kiss on the lips only for him to turn it into a passionate heat of lust, a hand reaching down between her legs but she grabbed his wrist and gave him a sheepish smile. He looked rather annoyed but he came with her out to her backyard where Zaim was pacing back and forth, looking like he was about to explode. He whipped around towards her then shot Bakura a million daggers of a glare. She placed her hand over her eyes and wondered what he was going to do; he was probably going to disown her as his apprentice, it didn't matter anyways.

"Why can't you listen to me? Why is he still here? Why haven't you…" he fidgeted his fingers before clenching his hands into fists. "Ammit!" He pointed at Bakura. "I knew you were frolicking with the damn thief!"

"It was the first time…" she said quietly, looking down, embarrassed. She didn't regret it though. It was wonderful and Zaim's disapproval and yelling wasn't going to change it. If she could rewind time, she'd do it all over again.

"I don't give a damn whether it was your millionth time! It's your last! You're running around with a thief who you haven't even wed! He can't give you anything! He's a thief!"

She was getting rather annoyed by Zaim. He never even tried to get to know Bakura. He just kept pointing at that Bakura was a thief. She knew that. But what did it matter? He wasn't hurting anyone, least of all her. He supported her and made her happy.

"We were wedded last night…"

Zaim looked a bit hurt by that. She hadn't invited him or his family there, but she hadn't actually thought she was going to be wedded last night. It made her feel guilty now that she realized it. Zaim probably would've never approved and probably wouldn't even show up to her feast.

"Mes…"

"Meskhenet," she corrected for him. Only her father called her Mes. She glared at Zaim.

"You're making a mistake," he said quietly. He grabbed her shoulders but she stepped back.

She laughed bitterly. "Then I guess I'm just like you! Making a mistake, never living my dream! Failing to be a court magician! Just let me live my life!" He tried to speak but she cut him off. "I lost my brother, Momma and Father, Taymur… my flock! Everything that I ever knew slipped right through my fingers! And you—you!" she jabbed a finger at him. "You run around acting like I'm important to you, like you're my father! Well, you're not! And you will never be a father to me!"

"You don't know what's good for you. He's bad news, Meskhenet!"

Bakura merely shot him a look, but thankfully kept his distance and his mouth closed.

"Bad news? Bad news?! You don't know him!" she yelled. Bakura placed a hand on her shoulder only for her to shove it off. "You've never even tried to give him a chance!"

"I don't need to give him a chance! They're all the same! Thieves, liars, murderers, rapists, they're all the same! Ammit, how do you expect me to live with myself if something happened to you! I made a mistake once already with Nakia!" he placed a hand over his mouth, looking rather surprised at what he said. She was too angry to care what he meant. He turned away. "He's going to hurt you. They're all the same."

"I may be a thief, but I'm no rapist," Bakura said angrily, but Zaim only looked at him and laughed bitterly.

"Your whole existence is a lie. You don't belong in this world," Zaim said bitterly. Meskhenet was shaking with fury. She didn't know what happened with Nakia or why Zaim was so damn insistent of Bakura but he was being cruel. He hadn't changed at all. "If you won't listen to me then you are no longer my concern."

She wanted to laugh at him but at the same time she felt hurt and wanted to cry. How could one man be so cruel? What was his problem? Why did he always disapprove of everything she ever did? Bakura wasn't bad, why couldn't he just give him a chance? She wanted him to take back what he said to Bakura, but Zaim was already walking away.

Bakura left too and she stood there feeling horrible. She decided when she was in a better mood; she would ask Nakia about Zaim. For now, she didn't want to think of him. She didn't know where Bakura left but she figured she better apologize on behalf of Zaim. She looked around the house but Bakura wasn't there. She hoped he hadn't been hurt by Zaim's words but when she exited her house, Bakura came over with the reins of his horse in his hands. She looked at him confused.

"We're going to go on a little adventure," he smiled at her. Had he really gotten over what Zaim said that fast? "What?"

"Uh… um, I'm sorry for what he said about you," she said sadly, looking down. He wasn't a lie; he did belong in this world. Regardless if he was a king or a thief or maybe even a slave, she would always love him and need him just the same.

Bakura brushed it off. "I've heard worse," he said. "He can say whatever he wants, but I'm not going to let that stop me from living my life." He mounted his horse. "Come on, let's have some fun." He offered his hand to her, and she looked at it. She took it, and he pulled her up onto the back of his horse.

"Where are we going?"

"To a little treasure trove I discovered." She wondered if he meant a tomb, if he did and was planning on robbing it, she didn't want to take part in it. Some time ago, she had wanted him to take her along but now that she had just finished burying her father not long ago, it somehow felt very wrong of her to be disturbing the grave of another man. She wondered why he thought tombs were so fun. They were just a place for the dead with a load of gold; maybe it was the reward that was worthwhile for him?

"Bakura…I-I don't want to rob a tomb…"

"It isn't a tomb."

"Really?"

Bakura laughed. "Yes, you should trust me when I tell you things."

She recognized the route as the same way he took her towards the Valley of the Kings but he made a left turn, moving away from the Nile and away from the Valley of the Kings. They entered a ravine of sand and rocks with large canyon cliffs on either side. Meskhenet saw some bones buried within the sand and wondered what animal those bones belonged to. They approached a structure built into the walls of the canyons. There was a large stairway leading up to a dark squared opening bordered by large statues of sphinxes that stood next to pillars. He rode Kek all the way up the long stairs until they were just outside the entrance to the 'treasure trove'. Meskhenet jumped down and Bakura dismounted. They both walked into the structure. It was almost completely black inside with darkness encircling the ceiling and bottom—who knew how far that drop led. There was a single pathway leading all the way across the other side which led to a doorway with two torches on either side of it.

"Don't step over there, I'll be right back," Bakura grabbed her shoulders and situated her at a certain place. He left the structure and Meskhenet looked around. She couldn't see anything from the ceiling. She turned around as she was looking up then suddenly her foot stepped on a portion of the floor that was squared. Stoned rubbed against stone as the squared piece was pushed downwards. Suddenly she heard the whishing sounds of blades and a large blade swung down in front of her. She screamed and fell back. Bakura came running back inside with a sword in one hand and a rock in the other. "I told you not to step over there!"

"Well, 'there' isn't very specific!" she told him, her heart jolting like a scared animal's. He helped her up. There were four blades swinging side to side. There were in a pattern, the first and third blades would nearly touch the pathway while the second and fourth blades were at the left and right. Meskhenet watched the blades as Bakura scratched the back of his head. They barely entered the tomb and there were already traps! She read about tombs in books, but never actually gave them much thought.

"We can still make it through," he said. She looked at him like he was crazy but he ignored her. _Yes, if we want to be sliced to pieces!_ She had just wedded him, consummated their marriage and was still waiting a summoning from the Queen; she didn't want to die here. "If we time ourselves right, we can dodge the first blade." The blades were coming down really quick, he might have been fast but she wasn't so certain about herself. "The second blade is timed to oppose the fourth blade. The third one should be pretty easy to dodge; of course this is only if judging from here they are placed at the same distance away from each other. It would be troublesome if we miscalculated the distance between the blades…"

He went on about the blades, but Meskhenet had stopped listening. She was watching the blades intently. At one point all the blades were off center, leading a pathway straight ahead. It was impossible to run across and dodge the blades all at once. An idea occurred to her, even though new magic wasn't being attained, she still had the old magic within her. She waited for her chance and then rose her hand up and chanted the spell, the blades froze in midair but the fourth blade hadn't completely left the pathway, meaning they would have to walk around its shape blade.

Bakura became silent. Meskhenet felt a part of her weaken from the spell, those blades were huge and she wasn't quite sure she could keep them frozen in place for a long time. She remembered the book she read about this spell mentioned something about mass. Living creatures didn't have that much mass and therefore could be frozen without draining the _heka_ of the user, but depending on the size of the unanimated object, it could be quite dangerous. "Well, then of course, we could do that," he said as he walked on forward. She followed him. "Your magic is quite convenient."

"Thank you," she said proudly and a little sadly. She didn't have many magic spells learned. Thinking about it, she remembered that she wanted to get stronger to face Ata should the need arise. Where was Ata now? She hadn't heard from him since that weird encounter in the night with his shrine for his 'Dark Lord'.

He walked around the fourth blade and she did too. The blade shined dangerously but she gulped down and went over to the front of the entrance way to the other room. She sighed and let the blades go back swinging. Suddenly the ground shook and when they turned to look at the way they had just come from, the pathway crumbled and fell down into the darkness. Making a lump appear in her throat as she stared horrified at the sight, they weren't going to be able to get back the way they came. She hoped there was another exit. She didn't want to die here.

"Looks like there's no going back now," Bakura said. He sounded so calm and if anything excited like this was a thrill just waiting to be explored and conquered. She didn't feel the same way.

They entered the dark room and it led down some steps into a room that was filled with hieroglyphics from the floor to the ceiling to the walls. Meskhenet couldn't read what the hieroglyphics said; they were jumbled and mixed in with some carvings depicting various images. One such image showed a person being impaled by a spike from the floor. She wondered if the images were trying to warn people of robbing this place. Two snake head statues were carved into the top of the room. Bakura was looking around at the ceiling. Meskhenet was about to go into the next dark room, but Bakura grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"What's wrong?" she asked. He threw the rock across the room and out from the two serpent-headed statues came two poison darts. He quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her along into the next room. She wondered if he had been here before, if he had she was surprised he made it out alive. "So what exactly is so great about tombs?"

"I told you this isn't a tomb," he said as they entered a dark room that was quite similar to the one before except there were no snake statues or another entrance anywhere. The walls led out to two halls at the side but either side led to dead ends and straight ahead was a wall that had five small squared openings evenly spaced at the center of the wall.

"Well, this reminds me of a tomb," she said. "It has traps and everything. So what do you find fun about this?"

"Why, it's the thrill of the adventure before you reach your ultimate goal and take the prize," he said, smiling at her. He placed an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. "Are you not having fun?"

"It's not my idea of fun, but it's different," she admitted. She wasn't a risk taker and definitely didn't find putting her life on the line exciting. Bakura was just daring and brave which only added to his charm. "What is this room?"

"Hmm," he let her go and went to examine the holes. The holes felt out of place and had a boding feeling about them. "I suppose one of these holes will open a doorway."

"You're not going to stick your hand in them, are you?" she asked frightened. He looked at her and shook his head. Suddenly Diabound appeared and slithered up to Bakura's neck. "Oh, hello, Diabound, I haven't seen you in a while." She petted the snake that looked happy to see her. She was quite certain he looked bigger and longer than before. Was Diabound growing? She wondered what was the state of her ka? Did her ka change and became drearier or was it the same?

"Choose a hole," Bakura said. She realized he was going to send Diabound into one of the holes since Diabound was small enough to fit in them. She didn't want to choose, there were five holes and that meant there was probably only one hole that was the correct one. That left four holes that could be traps, sending Diabound there probably meant the death of Diabound and Bakura but she had just wedded him the night before. She found it rather cruel of him to make her choose.

"What if I choose the wrong one?"

"I might die," he smirked at her like it was funny. She gave him an angry look. "You might have one shot at this so make it count."

She wished there was a magic spell that could point to the correct one. She went over to the hole to the farthest left and listened carefully. She heard nothing so she went to the next one; she heard something that sounded like multiple soft, low thumping like things were crawling inside the walls of the hole. She shivered at the thought of what could possibly be inside of the hole. She went to the middle hole and heard wind; the next two had no sounds like the first one.

"So what's your verdict?" he asked, Diabound swayed side to side as if waiting in anticipation.

She placed a finger on her chin. Three of the five made no sounds, one had wind and the other one had things inside. The wind one sounded like the best option, but they were looking for a device that would open a doorway, if she sent Diabound inside, he'd probably fall to his doom. The silent holes could have meant many things, traps or the correct way but there were three. Most people would've chosen the silent ones, the one with the… creatures was the least likely to be picked, but the sounds were audible. That would have scared people away which probably meant that one was the correct hole… She hoped her speculations were right. She pointed to the second one from the middle on the left. "That one," Bakura didn't hesitant to send Diabound in.

The snake slithered inside and there was a long pause of a moment of silence then a whole lot of spiders came crawling out. Meskhenet jumped behind Bakura who seemed unfazed by the disgusting creatures' appearance. She heard Diabound hiss and even more spiders came spilling out but then they heard stone scraping against stone as the wall to the left receded in before moving into the wall on the left.

"Good pick," Bakura said as he smiled at her. She kicked some spiders away, her skin crawling as she shrieked a little when a few spiders nearly crawled on her. Diabound came slithering out with a spider in his mouth. Squished and its hairy legs dangling from his mouth, he came right at Meskhenet's feet and she jumped away. Bakura laughed at her as Diabound slithered closer to Meskhenet.

"S—stop that!" she cried as she ran off to the opening. He was being mean! Her body jolted and she sprinted quite some ways from Bakura, holding herself and shivering. She didn't like spiders or scorpions, the disgusting vermin.

"Don't run off," Bakura said as Diabound placed the spider down and Bakura picked up his ka who comfortably slithered around his arm. He followed her out into the next room that had a walkway attached to the wall, leading straight into another wall, making a sharp turn and leading to some stairs that went higher and higher around the area until reaching a higher platform that probably led to another room. The middle of the room was empty, leading down into a pool of water.

She laughed nervously. The water surely wasn't for decoration purposes. "Well, this looks interesting…" she said worriedly. She looked to Bakura who was scanning the room. She looked at his sword, it had a golden hilt and the blade was slightly curved. "Where did you get that?"

"From a corpse," he replied simply. "Be careful around this area. It seems too simple." He gestured to the water. "That's there for a reason." They both walked forward but again her foot pressed on a piece of the floor that receded into the ground, but moments later Bakura's foot also stepped on one. They waited for something to happen but it took a while before Meskhenet suddenly saw below holes open up in the walls and water started pouring out into the pool, raising it higher. Suddenly at certain slabs of the walkway flipped down, dropping whatever would be on it into the water below. They flipped back at certain intervals of time before flipping back down. "Run!"

They both ran but Bakura held Meskhenet back at the first flipping slab. Meskhenet looked down; the water was rising pretty fast! "Go!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her along. They got off the slab just before it flipped down; they made a sharp turn and stopped again at the second flipping slab. The water was nearly half way to the walkway and there was a lot of stairs to get to the raised platform above. He pulled her along when the slab reset to its original position but before they reached the safe zone, the slab gave way, crumbling into the water. She felt the ground disappear from beneath her but Bakura threw her over to the safe side.

She hit the floor and quickly crawled over to the edge. "Ahhh! Bakura!" she shouted, panic taking over as she frantically went over to him. Her heart couldn't take this; she was going to die from the mere fright of it all! He was holding onto the edge of the walkway with one hand, the damaged slab was still flipping but there was only half of it left. The water was really close now. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest but not in a good way. Bakura reached over with his other hand that held the sword. She grabbed his left hand and tried to pull him up, but Ra, she was weak! He pulled himself over the edge and she tried to help, but once he was safely on the walkway, the water was already raising over the walkway. He grabbed her hand and got up, running up the stairs. Some of the stairs crumbled a bit where they stepped on but they continued to circle around the building until they reached the raised platform where a door was closed. It had a lot of hieroglyphics and a blue sun and bird at the top of it.

"Oh, Ra! We're trapped!" she exclaimed as she turned around. The water was rising over the steps; there wasn't any other place to go. They would drown if they didn't get the door open!

"There has to be a way in!" Bakura and her frantically searched and pressed on the side of the door, but nothing happened. He checked again on his side, "Here!" he found a circular hole that looked like something should fit in. "Something goes in here…"

"Did we miss anything?!" she asked frantically. The water was getting really close to them. She looked around the door for anything but they saw the bird at the top of the door. She pointed to the bird. Glinting in the darkness was a red circular jewel as the eye of the bird. "There!" But it was too high for either of them to reach.

Bakura looked at the water then at the jewel. "We wait until the water comes."

She turned to him in disbelief. "Are you crazy?! We'll drown!"

"The water will raise us up, we'll be able to reach it then," oh, he was right, but she still didn't like the idea of being submerged under water. She didn't know how long it'd take to get the jewel out; it looked like it was lodged in there pretty tight. Who knew how long they could hold their breath? She hesitated then nodded and so they waited for the water to come.

When it touched her feet, she shivered at the coldness of the water. It slowly rose up her body, she held herself as it rose higher and higher. She felt her feet leave the ground when the water was half up her body. They were rising! They got high enough to the bird carving but the water kept rising. Bakura took a deep breath and dove into the water, Meskhenet followed after him. They swam over to the jewel, Meskhenet tried to grab the jewel, but her hand just slipped off its smooth surface. Bakura signaled her to move aside and she did. He used his sword and dug the tip of it into the tiny gap between the jewel and socket. He pushed his sword at the side and struggled for a bit but then the jewel popped right out. Meskhenet quickly grabbed it before it sank further down. She swam over to the hole next to the door and Bakura did too. Her lungs were burning and she felt like she was going to give into the water, but she quickly inserted the jewel into the empty socket.

The door shuddered opened as it lifted up, some of the water drained into the room it led to, but the water instantly drained from somewhere down below. Bakura and Meskhenet found themselves on the raised platform, they both were coughing and Meskhenet kept taking deep breaths. Her lungs were on fire and her heart under ice! She thought last night was too much excitement, but Ammit, she was wrong.

"Nice job," Bakura complimented her as he stood up. He offered his hand and she took it. She shivered, she hated being wet. "I should make you my partner-in-crime." He might have seen this as thrilling, but she saw this as frightening. She didn't think she could handle any more of this, but there wasn't exactly anyway back. In a last ditch effort, Meskhenet decided she would summon her ka and blast their way out of here. She shivered, moving her hair over her shoulder and squeezing the water out. Bakura ran a hand over his hair before his eyes fell on her body, a smirk crawling to his lips. She looked down and saw that the water hand made her clothes clung to every curve on her body, making her clothes transparent as well and all her goods quite visible. Her breasts were practically shown through the fabric while her underwear stood out almost entirely from her outfit; she felt her nipples harden at the cold sensation. Blushing, she tried to cover herself even though she found that a bit odd. He already saw her naked, what was there to hide?

"Stop looking," she muttered shyly only for her face to become hotter at the thought of what he did to them the night before. It made electric pulses dance on her body as she craved for him now, wanting him to take hold of her breasts, lick them or any other erotic thing he knew. "Bakura, let's go."

He came over to her, placing his hands at her waist and kissing her on the lips rather softly. When he deepened it, she moved her face away, hot and red as his hands slid to her breasts and he felt her nipples through her clothes. His warm breath tickled her skin while his rough hands went to massage her breasts. And then before she knew it, she was on the ground on her back, him over her, pulling the skirt of her dress up to her hips while her breathing got ragged at the realization of what he was trying to do. Looking around, she grabbed his hands instantly and shook her head.

"This is a tomb, Bakura," Ra, she wasn't going to have sex in a place where a bunch of people died.

"I told you it's not," he said again, sliding his hands to her underwear. He could say whatever he wanted; it was still a tomb to her. He took hold of one of her hands and slipped it through his shendyt and sash, placing it firmly on his manhood as she looked away, biting her lip and feeling him while he grunted a bit from her touch. Last night, she had been ashamed of her hands because they weren't soft like most girls, but he told her he hadn't minded and yet he wouldn't allow her to explore him last night. Now he was though and she couldn't pass up the opportunity. After feeling him for a while, she shyly pulled away only for him to slide her underwear down to her knees. It didn't feel good at all to be lying on the wet and cold stone beneath her; at least at home she had her sheets.

"Are we really…?"

"It'll be real quick," he whispered to her, slipping a hand between her legs which she closed on him. She wasn't entirely used to this yet so the sensation of his warm hand below was a little discomforting and yet she found herself becoming wet from the small strokes he did with his calloused hands.

"Not here," she gulped, "Please…" he frowned at her while she tried sitting up and pulling his hand out but he resisted. "Bakura, when we finish…" she locked gazes with him and saw him searching for confirmation before he finally slipped his hand out then giving her a passionate kiss on the lips.

"When we get the reward, I'll get mine," he told her. She said nothing but silently agreed only if she wasn't too tired or dead from all this. She slipped her underwear back on and he helped her to her feet, picking up the sword he had dropped apparently earlier. He fixed her dress, brushing it from dust and debris. Slightly relieved they hadn't stupidly had sex here; she let out a small sigh and gave him a smile before taking his hand into hers and walking alongside him.

They entered another room that was similar to the one with the snake-headed statues but there were no statues and simply a long corridor leading to another dark entryway that led to a plain corridor and then to double doors, chained and locked. Bakura and Meskhenet stood in the entryway, examining the room. This couldn't be it. Meskhenet knew that there must've been more. Whatever architects that designed this place did a pretty thorough job in trying to kill whatever intruders.

"So what do you think is going to happen?" Meskhenet asked, shivering. She wanted to light a fire but there wasn't a place to rest and she really just wanted to get out of here. She rubbed her arms.

"The walls are different than the rest of the rooms," Bakura observed. "They're probably going to close in on us as we reach the door."

Meskhenet nodded, not liking the sound of that one bit. "So this door… is it special or is that really just a lock?"

"There's only one way to find out," and Bakura walked over to the door, Meskhenet followed close behind him, watching the walls. They got to the lock safely with nothing happening. They both looked around. Meskhenet wondered if they were wrong, but somehow felt that they weren't. Bakura pulled out some lock picks; she wondered where he was keeping those. The minute he touched the lock though, the room began to shake and just like he thought, the side walls began to close in on them except it was really coming in fast! The entryway they had come through closed shut. They were stuck.

"Um… Bakura…" Meskhenet said, looking back at Bakura.

"I'm working on it," Bakura said, trying to angle the lock picks in the right position. "Do something about the walls if you can."

Magic wasn't as convenient as he thought! She couldn't just do any magic to counter every trap. It took energy… she closed her eyes and concentrated hard, thinking on what spell she could use. She thought of one and began to chant the spell and rose up her arms in a position like she was pushing the walls aside. The walls slowed down and began to retreat to their original positions. Not good, she wouldn't be able to keep this up.

"I—it would… be… nice if you…" she was struggling to keep the walls apart. This was it; she was going to die here, flattened and splat against some walls. Oh, maybe she should've taken the chance to have sex with him one last time. "I—if you… got that …lock!"

"I'm trying…" he grumbled.

She struggled as she watched the walls move slowly back and forth as the force pushed against her magic. Suddenly, her grasp over the magic started to weaken and the walls began to slowly close in on them. She felt like the walls were shrinking around her (of course, they were), trapping her in a small confined place. She felt her heart race and her breathing quickened. It felt rather hot for her despite her soaking wet, but she also felt quite chilly. Her stomach churned like butterflies were in them and her chest hurt badly, like it was tightening and constricting her heart and lungs. She tried to ignore whatever feelings she was feeling but she couldn't and it was overwhelming her. Her head pounded with a impending headache and she realized she felt entirely frightened of the closing walls, just like back at the sarcophagus in Beni Suef. Her fear was acting up in the worse possible situation.

She heard the chains gave way and the doors creak open. "Come on!" Bakura said, but she couldn't move. She felt her magic was weakening until it finally broke. Bakura quickly pulled her into the other room just as the walls slammed into one another, closing off the passage completely. She was breathing rather hard and she fell down onto the ground, rubbing her arms and shaking. "Are you alright?" he knelt down beside her.

"Y—yes, I—don't know what… sorry…" she gasped for air, shivering badly as she squeezed her eyes shut. He helped her up and held her close. She felt a little better after not being in that room, but the idea of the walls shrinking somehow still frightened her. Bakura looked worried but she gave me a reassuring smile. "I'm alright." He hugged her and she sighed.

They were disturbed from their moment when they heard a loud growl, suddenly flames lit the torches that were dispersed through the room and standing ten feet away was a large lion like creature. The creature wasn't normal though, it had three heads, all looking different directions but the middle head was staring right at them. The creature had rosette like black patterns throughout its yellow body. Its eyes had slits for pupils on the middle head with yellow eyes; the head to the right had blank glossy gray eyes while the one on the left had glossy red eyes. Its twitching tail was a normal tail up until the end where it split into three, the middle tail looked like a lion's with a tuft of brown hairs standing at the ends while the other two were plain and rounded like a tiger's tail. It sat regally poised, lowly growling at the two.

There were some steps leading down into the room. The room was a lot wider than the previous ones, but it too had all the walls covered in hieroglyphics and images except they were separated into conjoining slabs of stone. The images were different from the previous rooms; they depicted animals of different kinds and held torches at the walls, leading down to an ornate golden door. But besides the doors and the area the creature stood on, the room was covered in splashes of burnt marks as if fire had exploded on their surfaces.

The atmosphere in this room was different than the ones before. It felt heavy and somehow tingling. She could tell by the atmosphere that there was magic in this room. "That's a ka," Meskhenet said instantly, she looked around the room but there wasn't much to see besides the images and hieroglyphics. "If there is no wielder then there should be a stone slab."

"Like the one your mother had?" Bakura asked. Meskhenet nodded. She couldn't see any stone slabs that looked to belong to the ka, but it didn't seem to be here. The feline creature merely looked at them, twitching its tail. "It's not attacking."

"It's rather oddly placed…" Meskhenet observed. The cat sat at the side close to the right side of the room rather than centered in the middle to block any intruders from proceeding to the doors. She chanted her fire spell and a flame appeared in her hand.

"You're going to attack it?" asked Bakura.

"It's probably going to attack us if we proceed."

"It might not have, but since you summoned that, it might have taken offense," he grinned at her. She looked at Bakura with a slight glare. "Feel free to burn it to ashes."

"Will do," she threw the fire at the creature and it stood up, but did not move to dodge the flame, rather it rotated its body slightly so that the left head faced the flame. The space in front of the left head rippled and the flame disappeared into nothing. "What?"

"Hmm," Bakura said, tossing his sword into the air and catching it. "Magic is ineffective." He stepped down the steps and Meskhenet watched the creature carefully. It was now sitting again, watching with its middle head. The minute Bakura stepped off the last step, the beast again rotated to its side slightly but this time its right head was facing them. It was posed to attack, but it did not. Bakura stepped back up and it relaxed. "Interesting…"

"Be careful…" Meskhenet said. Bakura walked near the left side of the room as far as possible from the creature, it turned its middle head to where he was walking, but when he got right to the middle of the room, it blasted a fiery sphere at him, but he jumped out of the way. The middle head was the only one moving, watching him as its right head prepared another attack.

Meskhenet stepped down the steps, summoning another flame and then the creature did the creepiest thing. Its left eye turned towards her while its right eye was still targeted at Bakura. Its left head blasted a sphere of blue wind at Meskhenet but she quickly rolled to the side. Bakura ran over to her and pulled her onto the steps again. The creature sat down without attacking.

"Don't do that!" she said to him, but he wasn't listening to her.

"The other heads are blind," he said. The middle head was watching them intently. The other two heads simply didn't move and their eyes were different from the middle. Yes, they must have been blind, meaning their only source of sight came from the middle head. "We can't confuse it though; it was made to attack multiple targets."

It was a ka, meaning another ka could go up against it, but Diabound was too small to face the creature. Meskhenet had yet to actually use her ka; she didn't know the strength of it yet. She frowned, she could test out her ka but that was quite risky. "If I summon Black Witch, I can try and eliminate it…"

Bakura looked at her. "I know I want that treasure and I appreciate your intent," he placed his hands on her shoulders. She looked at the sword; it was a little too close to her… "But I don't want a dead wife to get that treasure." She blushed at him calling her 'wife'—ugh! No, this wasn't the time. "Don't needlessly summon your ka." She nodded.

"So what do we do…? We can't exactly turn back," she looked behind them at the closed walls of the previous room.

"And we're not," said Bakura, removing his hands from her shoulders and turning to face the creature. "We need to get rid of that ka."

"If we destroy the stone tablet, the ka should be destroyed with it," Meskhenet looked around. The problem was: there didn't seem to be any stone slabs in this room. She looked at the spot the creature stood on. "Unless…"

Bakura was silent. "Ah, I see…" he looked at her. "Blast the beast," she looked at him and frowned. "Trust me." And he took off towards the creature.

"W—wait!" What was he doing? She shook her head and summoned another flame; she threw it towards the creature that turned its left eye towards her. The left head turned to counter the attack while the right eye kept a close watch on Bakura, its right head preparing an attack. Bakura threw his sword at the right head, the sword spun through the air and the right head quickly switched to counter it rather than blasting.

"Diabound!" Bakura said, and suddenly Meskhenet saw the white little creature fly through the air (he was flying!) as he came hurtling down towards the middle head. The two heads on either side countered the sword and fire by rippling the space in front of it like it did before. Diabound landed on the middle head, the creature growled and roared as it tried shaking Diabound off, but Diabound unleashed his fangs and bit down in the creature's left eye. The creature roared in pain as it shut its bloody eye. When Diabound flew off, Meskhenet quickly summoned another flame and threw it at the creature. With its left eye, it couldn't automatically counter the attack so it turned its body so the left side was exposed, but apparently only the right head could counter magic. The flame hit the creature and it roared even louder as its right head was burning. The creature shook its middle head, roaring and crying in pain.

Not wasting a moment, Meskhenet summoned her ka and the Black Witch appeared behind her. It spun its staff before pointing it at the creature, a sphere of wind formed at the center of the staff then the Black Witch sent the wind sphere at the creature, it hit the creature and the creature skidded off its default position. The slab below shattered and revealed a portion of the stone tablet of the beast. There it was! "Black Witch, focus your attack at the stone tablet!" Black Witch readied another attack but the creature tried to move back to its original position, it was too late though. The Black Witch blasted another attack and the stone tablet below cracked. Diabound followed up with an attack of his own at the stone tablet below, it shattered the creature into nothing.

The ornate doors ahead, shuddered before opening up. Diabound flew over to the Black Witch and landed on its neck. Meskhenet went over to Bakura who was looking up at her ka. Not able to contain her excitement, she practically jumped on him. "Diabound flew!" she said all giddy inside. "Are you alright?"

"I'm perfect," he said amused apparently at the fact that the only thing she seemed really impressed by was Diabound flying. "You really would make a perfect partner-in-crime."

She laughed. She thought they made a pretty good team and she was happy that she could actually do something other than be a distraction. The doors to the treasure were open and hopefully no more traps and a way out of here awaited them. He took her hand and pulled her along to the treasure room. It had golden floors and was a very large circular room with golden and blue circles painted on it. The room had piles of gold, much more than the tomb at the pyramid they had seen as children. There were chalices, rings, necklaces, coins etc. so much gold that it could have been distributed among the citizens of Mallawi and still have enough for another town.

Meskhenet looked in awe at the room. Centered in the middle was a platform with steps leading to a single golden chair. In the far corner of the room was a door with a blue bird above it, but then she spotted a golden rectangular coffin like shape and frowned. If she remembered correctly from her books, the sarcophagus would be placed within the golden or stoned rectangle. She turned to Bakura who was decorating himself with gold.

"I thought you said this wasn't a tomb…" she frowned. He turned to her and placed a necklace on her.

"It isn't," he said, but she looked at the rectangle. "The sarcophagus was stolen years ago and by definition a tomb is where a corpse lays, there is no corpse here so I didn't lie." He put a headpiece on her head. "It pains me that you can't trust me." She knew he was joking but she frowned at his comment and protested against it. "So what do you think of gra—tomb raiding?"

She thought about it for a moment. They could have been cut to pieces but they avoided that, could've drowned but survived that, been crushed—she shivered at that thought—and the ka could've killed them. Whatever jubilation he got from narrowly avoiding death wasn't shared by her, but the adventure wasn't bad. She got to spend time with him and got her mind off of a lot of things it could've been wandering to if she had stayed at Mallawi.

While she was lost in thought, he decorated her in fine jewelry. She kissed him. "It was sort of fun." She looked around the room and spotted a crook fancily clad in gold and blue. She went over to it and picked it up, one of the symbols of the pharaoh and the god, Osiris. She turned to Bakura. "Do you know why the pharaoh's symbol is the crook and flail?"

"No, and I'm not entirely interested," he sat at the chair and crossed his legs. She laughed at him. He didn't look at all like a king so he seemed rather oddly placed on the chair. She went over to him. "I know that those are farming tools. You always ran around with a crook when you were with your sheep."

"Yes, because the crook is also the symbol of the shepherd," she said, uncaring that he didn't want to listen. "It stands for kingship and the flail represents the fertility of the land. They're both the symbols of Osiris who was the shepherd god. You know the word _ba_ came because of rams from the ram god, Banebdjedet who was considered the ba of many gods including Osiris."

"Fascinating…" he told her bored. She failed to note his sarcasm. "So the crook is the symbol of kingship, I guess that makes you King of the Sheep."

She laughed. "No," he put an arm around her waist and pulled her near him, kissing her body through her drying clothes. "We honor Osiris by the crook, but it helps us do our job. The pharaoh uses these symbols because it is his job to cultivate an—"

"Stop talking about pharaohs and gods," Bakura said irritated. Meskhenet became quiet. She forgot he didn't seem to like anything to do with pharaohs or the palace. She should probably ask him later. "So what do you think of being my partner?"

She giggled as he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her, moving down to her neck. "No, I don't think so…"

"No?"

"As _fun_ as it was," she put her arms around his neck. "I don't think I'll be much help."

"You were a ton of help today." He kissed her nose. She shook her head. She didn't really think she did much, especially since she froze up in that room… they could've gotten killed because of her. He was silent as he looked her in the eye, frowning. "You want stability."

She looked at him, surprised. Stability? Was that what she wanted? She thought for a moment. Her life had been about practicing magic to become a court magician, well that failed, but her life had been pretty stable… did she really want stability? Every time it got ripped from her, it hurt worse and worse. Bakura was a thief, that was as unstable as one could get, she never really thought of him actually getting a real job and working for the rest of his life like other people did.

She shook her head again. "Stability is nice, but it is also boring," she told him, and he laughed. "I don't really know what the future holds for us… I'm a servant now and you're a thief. You're always going to be on the move and I'll probably be at the palace, but I don't care. I fell in love with a thief, despite being warned a million times by my master. I knew what I was getting into. If I wanted stability," she laughed. "I would've just married Ahmed."

He kissed her for a long time before she pushed him away, blushing. "My offer still stands if you ever change your mind." He said as she laughed at him. "Now that we have our reward…"

"Oh, Ra, Bakura! Not here!" she tried sitting up from him, but he snaked his arms around her waist and kept her close to him. "You're a dog, stop!"

"A dog?" he laughed, kissing her back and shoulders while she squirmed in his grip. Did he really want to have sex in a treasure room? The idea was a little intriguing, but she chastised herself for thinking like that. No, their sexual activities belonged in a bedroom not a former tomb. He bit her on her breast through her fabric and she winced a little, "Let me show you how much a dog I can be." Giggling and shrieking, she protested until he had finally got her to straddle him, petting her and kissing her while their bodies lightly grinded against each other. She moaned a bit, holding him in a tight embrace while he fondled and groped her. "I want you out of these clothes."

"I want out of this tomb," she told him lowly in his ear, trying to resist the urge from removing his sash. "Bakura, I'm tired. I'd like a bed or someplace soft for us to continue your reward." He paused in their foreplay, "Can't we rent an inn room somewhere with a bed?"

"Yes, I think that's what we'll do," he grinned at her, "Come, partner." He moved her off him, holding her arms as he smiled at her. "And then we'll get a bed and continue." She nodded, blushing.

* * *

Author's Note: Ugh, I had meant to post this like some days ago, but I've had lack of sleep lately and kept falling asleep everywhere. Anyways, I forgot to say (again) that the reason Meskhenet in the last chapter mentioned that Bakura would be an architect like his father was because when I looked it up, they said that boys became usually whatever their fathers were unless they were sent at an early age to become a soldier or scribe. Don't know how accurate that is, but I included it :P.


	30. Chapter XXX: The Chimera

Chapter XXX: The Chimera

They took as much gold as they could and thank Ra, found that the exit led out to the top of the canyons. Bakura whistled Kek over and the horse, with his sharp hearing, came running over from down below. Meskhenet wondered if the gold would be too much for the horse but Bakura insisted Kek was a strong horse. They rode out to the town he had taken her the night before. He said they would sell their goods or get whatever they wanted with the treasures. Some of the rough looking people kept looking at them and it made Meskhenet very uncomfortable. The sun was already at the horizon and she was extremely tired from their adventure. She wanted a bath, a bed, anything really that wasn't physically exhausting.

"Meskhenet," someone called and to her utter surprise, Nakia came over. She was wearing a hooded robe and wore a kind smile. Meskhenet wondered if Zaim had sent her but how would he have known about this place? Meskhenet thought it was a hangout for thieves. Bakura merely looked at Nakia, saying nothing.

"Nakia…" Meskhenet said. She wondered if Nakia was going to say something bad about Bakura too. She didn't really know if Nakia knew about Bakura's profession. "What are you doing here? It's dangerous…"

Nakia smiled sadly. "Hello, Bakura," she addressed to him, he merely nodded to her. "May I take your wife out for a walk?" So she was aware of their banquet, Zaim probably told her.

"Ask her, not me," said Bakura, tethering Kek to a pillar.

Meskhenet rubbed her arm as Nakia looked at her. "Well, Meskhenet, do you mind accompanying me for a stroll?" She nodded and Nakia took her arm and they walked down the streets of the village. She got a good glimpse of Bakura who glanced at her before Nakia tugged on her arm, pulling her attention away from Bakura.

"Did Master Zaim send you here?" she didn't really want to hear anything about Zaim. She was still angry and hurt by him for this morning. Her choice was hers; she wasn't going to end anything with Bakura. Besides, they had sex, he could keep Bakura away from her but nothing was going to change the fact that they had felt and saw each other, becoming one under the moonlight, two hearts now one.

Nakia laughed. "No. He doesn't know I'm here." Meskhenet wondered why she was here then and how did she know of this place. "He _suggested_ I talk to you to convince you you're making a mistake." Meskhenet pulled her arm away and stopped.

"I don't wan—"

Nakia held up a hand. "I'm not here to talk about you. I want to tell you about my brother, Zaim." Meskhenet wasn't really sure she wanted to hear of Zaim's life, but maybe it would help her understand why he was so damn stubborn. She continued to walk with Nakia, aimlessly wandering the town. "As I told you before… Ata and Zaim are twins and then there's me. We all lived together with our mother. Our father died some time ago. He was a soldier of some sorts…"

"Of some sorts?"

Nakia looked around as if someone was watching. "Hmm, it's complicated but that's not the point. He died when we were young. Your mother and brother used to live with us too but by the time you were born they moved to Beni Suef. Zaim became an apprentice to a magician; he wanted to be a court magician as you know."

"But he didn't," how ironic that the two of them were the same now, "Because of a mistake."

Nakia looked down and had a sad expression. The look in her eyes pained Meskhenet; it was almost as if she was reliving a horrible memory. Bakura had those moments too when he stared off into the distance or looked right through her. "Yes… because of my mistake." Meskhenet raised an eyebrow at Nakia. Zaim had mentioned Nakia's name when he was yelling, Mashariq had also mentioned something about Nakia so long ago. _Secrets, that's what it is…_ What exactly was this 'mistake'? "I married a… thief." Meskhenet stopped and looked at the dark haired woman. She thought Nakia had married a man who had left her because she was infertile. She thought the man was some craftsman; she could've sworn that's what she heard… "I know everyone said I married a blacksmith but that's just a lie that Zaim told everyone."

"He was ashamed of you marrying a criminal."

"No," Nakia chuckled. "He was very supportive of me. I thought I was in love… I was in love." That was a little hard to believe because he was always so disapproving of Bakura. "My husband was a dream. He took me places, he got along great with Ata and Zaim, and he was just a dream." Meskhenet didn't like where this was going and if anything, their conversation was making her uncomfortable. "But he was a nightmare disguised as a dream…"

"Bakura is not like that. He is who he is… he doesn't lie—he's just misunderstood…"

Nakia laid a hand on her arm. "I'm not trying to scare you. I'm not talking about Bakura." Meskhenet knew why Zaim had asked Nakia to talk to her because he must've knew that this would scare her but it didn't scare her from Bakura, it just scared her of Zaim's reasons for hating Bakura. "Zaim was just about to become a court magician. How wonderful it would have been if he got to live his dream! He left to Thebes and everything and Ata stayed with me and my husband… but that's when it happened. Our town was attacked, our mother killed by who other than my very own husband." She laughed softly, but her eyes were sad. She had a pained expression as she looked down. "I wished it was just one day… but it wasn't. The village was burnt, plundered, the people were destroyed and whoever lived through it suffered immensely. Assault and rape kept happening, day after day. I wished it just ended…" Nakia placed her hands over her womb area.

Meskhenet knew now what happened to Nakia. She wasn't born infertile, she was damaged by the very man she had loved and Zaim must have blamed himself for it all: his mother's death, his sister's suffering and condition. _He never got to say goodbye…_ Zaim said he had gotten the news of Al-Faiyum when he was in Thebes, Ata blamed Zaim for everything that happened…because Zaim _was_ supportive of Nakia's marriage. _Oh my Ra…_ She hugged Nakia in a tight embrace, wishing she could take away her pain, but the older woman merely laughed, she was crying softly, wiping her tears away. "Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't trying to cry."

"It's alright…"

"Ah, I thought I was over this," she wiped her tears and sniffled, but she laughed. Meskhenet doubted that anyone could ever get over something so traumatic. "I'm alright, thank you. Anyways, Zaim got the news from Ata and came home. I never saw Zaim so hurt, so angry. They destroyed our village and Zaim destroyed them. He gave up his dream to care for Ata and me. It was only supposed to delay him but Ata lost his way and he too betrayed Zaim. In the end, Zaim became the man you met. The cruel and distrusting man, he lost his dreams and trust. He no longer trusts people. And for as long as he lives, he probably never will."

"I didn't know…" Meskhenet was torn to feel hurt for Zaim. He had every reason to doubt Meskhenet's choice. It was repeating Nakia's, but he still didn't know Bakura… she laughed at herself. Oh, it didn't matter if he got to know Bakura. He would never trust him because the man Nakia married was just like Zaabit, a liar, a faker in disguise.

"I want you to be wary of your surroundings. Don't ever let your guard down," Nakia said seriously, placing her hands on Meskhenet's shoulders.

"Then how do I know if the choice I made is right? What if you are all right and he is bad? But what if you are all wrong and he is good?" she was torn whether to heed Nakia's story or follow what she believed was right. Nakia had once thought she was right too, hadn't she? She didn't want to doubt Bakura but she was wondering if her thought process was falling into the same ones Nakia once had and it scared her. What if her judgment was wrong? What if she was just madly in love that it was causing her to trust Bakura entirely? But Bakura wasn't a bad person…

Nakia hugged her. "It is hard to tell the good from the bad." She placed a hand on Meskhenet's head. That didn't really make Meskhenet feel better. "You have to trust your judgment. I cannot judge Bakura for you. This may mean nothing but I don't think he is a bad man. He seems very lonely and you seem to make him happy." She smiled. Meskhenet gave her a sad smile.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you…"

"It's the past. I'm happy now. I have a beautiful nephew and a lovely sister-in-law. I got to see Ata too. Despite his flaws, he's still my brother and I still have fond memories of him. I must be getting back, I don't want Zaim worrying about me being out alone," she took Meskhenet's hands in hers. Meskhenet didn't really know how to feel or think. She was beginning to doubt her own judgment. "Meskhenet, you may not believe this, but… Zaim really cares for you." And then she left, leaving Meskhenet over there confused and conflicted.

Meskhenet held herself. She hated liars, but Bakura wasn't a liar. He wasn't Zaabit, yes, he was a thief, but just because he was a thief, it didn't mean he was a bad man. Someone came from behind her and she turned around. It was Bakura! He was giving her a blank look but she saw loneliness in his eyes. Had he heard what Nakia said…?

"So…" he said. "Am I a bad man?" Ah, he had heard. She placed a hand over his arm and kissed him on the cheek.

"No," she whispered to him. He seemed a little happy as he took her hand. She entwined her fingers between his. "What should we do now?" The sun was actually getting pretty low in the sky. "It's getting rather late."

He placed his forehead against hers. "I know a thing we can do…"

"Really?" she asked amused. Was he going to offer up another tomb? She would have to graciously decline if he did. He gave her a taunting smile.

"Yes, it very much involves my beautiful wife and a certain place to be," at first she didn't understand but then she realized what he was taking about. Right, she still owed him a reward. She blushed and lightly punched his arm. He laughed at her as he led her away to an inn where he had apparently stored their stuff and rented a room. He pulled her into the small room that had a bed centered in the middle, a chest in the corner and a table in another corner. A small rectangular slit window was just above the bed, letting the sun peak through it. "You wanted a bed."

"Yes," she flopped onto it, spreading the sheets as she snuggled up in the bed, feeling the softness. After lying on the floor for so long, it felt like she was lying on a cloud, sinking through as she inhaled deeply. She felt the bed raise and fall, opening her eyes she saw Bakura sitting at the edge, watching her. She blushed, knowing what he wanted. Rolling onto her side, she bit her lip, "Well? I thought you wanted a reward."

He placed a hand on her butt and leaned over, kissing her on her lips rather roughly, biting her lip a bit. She could feel her heart beat echoing throughout her body as she sat up on her knees, laying her hands on his shoulders to get a better angle at kissing him. His hands found the hem of her dress and slowly he began to strip it over her body until he broke away from her, ripping it over her head and then pulling her practically naked body towards him.

* * *

Some days later, Meskhenet was shopping through the marketplace. She and Bakura had been trying to find a village to move to that was closer to Thebes, unfortunately they couldn't just choose a place on a map and magically travel there and get a home. Money wasn't really the problem, she just wanted a place that wasn't high in security but was also close to Thebes so she wouldn't have to travel too far. It was proving rather difficult so in the end, Bakura decided he would scout the villages out, she wanted to go with him but he insisted her to stay at Mallawi for the time being.

She hummed to herself as she wandered through the street vendors. She was looking at the apple vendor when she smacked right into someone. The person didn't say anything and she quickly looked up and apologized but to her surprise, it was Zaim! He was staring at her. She didn't know what to say… should she apologize? Should she ignore him? He had technically disowned her; however he had been her master in magic despite the fact she had never gotten her staff or truly completed her training. She somehow felt frightened seeing him there in front of her.

"You don't show up for practice," he said after a moment of silence. She looked at him confused. "I thought you wanted your staff." She didn't know what he was going on about. He had disowned her and even if he hadn't, she was a servant now. Magic was useless to her now. As if reading her mind, he said "You can still be a magician without being a court magician. I am sure magic will help you within the Queen's Court."

She didn't know what to say to him. "Why are you here?" she asked wearily.

"I still do not agree with your choice, but I cannot walk away again. The best way for me to keep an eye on you and make sure your safe is to keep being your master," he said, looking away as he rubbed his arm. She was silent. "Will you take me back as your master?"

She thought it was rather considerate of him to ask her. A part of her wanted him to continue being her master, she didn't exactly knew if she loved him or not but him walking out of her life would have hurt just as much. She thought for a moment, "Apologize to Bakura."

"No." he interjected pretty quickly. That answer didn't surprise her at all. "I will not."

"Then good day," she walked passed him only for him to grab her arm.

"Wait… where is he?" he grumbled. She was happy to know that he was making an effort.

"He's not here."

"What?" he narrowed his eyes at her. "He left you?"

"No," she replied irritated. She yanked her arm out of his grasp. "We're looking for a place closer to Thebes."

"How thoughtful of him," he said dryly. "So you're going to leave Mallawi…" She hesitated but nodded. She didn't really have a choice. She wished she could stay but her new job demanded her to. Wasn't he supposed to move from Mallawi too? Right, with everything that happened with her father he had probably delayed his move.

"I have to…"

"I know a couple of good villages for you to go to…"

"We need a place with low security."

"He doesn't care about your safety?"

"No. I didn't ask him what he wanted. _I_ want a place with lower security."

Zaim glared at her but she didn't care. Security wasn't good for him, especially if they were as corrupted as the ones here, than they did little for her too.

Zaim looked her over and was silent for a while. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

"What? No!" she said, but she realized she didn't actually know if she was. She felt fine, she didn't have any of the symptoms Anya had when Anya found out she was pregnant. He looked a little suspicious of her but seemed a little glad. Why did he always ask embarrassing questions?

"Why are you shopping for food?"

"We have nothing at home," what kind of question was that? "Anyway, Bakura should be back in a day or two."

"Let's go review your magic," he grabbed her arm and pulled her along. They went to the Nile and it felt very nostalgic. She hadn't gone to the Nile in a long while. They reviewed her magic in illusion, offensive, performance and countering. She even showed him her ka. Zaim seemed quite pleased and even patted her head for approval. Somehow, she felt very happy being with him. She realized the last time she had saw him, she had said something very hurtful. He may not have been even an ounce close to being like her father, but he was the closest thing she had to one now. She remembered when her father had been desperately asking for his Diadhank, Zaim had taken the initiative to stop him. She had thought him cruel at that time but looking back now, she realized he had been looking out for her and her father.

"I'm sorry," she said out of nowhere. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize," he gave her a sad smile. "You have every right to get mad at me. I want to apologize but… I can't." She didn't understand, but he patted her head. Suddenly, they heard a horse neigh and Meskhenet turned around to see Bakura and Kek! She was glad to see him; he came a lot earlier than she thought he would. He stopped his horse right beside her and dismounted. Zaim was glaring at him.

She greeted him with a hug and a kiss, but Bakura turned his attention to Zaim to give him a glare before ignoring him and turning to her. "I found a perfect village. It's right near Thebes, it's bigger than Mallawi but I think you'll like it."

"What village is this?" Zaim asked, but Bakura ignored him.

"What village is this?" Meskhenet asked Bakura instead.

"Deir El-Medina," he answered.

"What?" Zaim said angrily. He walked closer to them. Bakura shot him a glare. "You'll be right at home there, wouldn't you?" Meskhenet looked at Zaim then at Bakura. She didn't know what he was talking about. She didn't really know much about Thebes and the villages close to it. "It's a craftsman's village, but it's also very dangerous. There's been a lot of criminal activity there. It's a horrible village."

"I told you I wanted a place with low security…" she reminded him.

"It's near a ghost town too," Zaim said. She didn't really believe in ghosts but it sounded a bit interesting. "Choose a different village."

"More criminal activity means less security," Bakura said as if trying to convince her to his side. "The people there are free. It has good medicine and there's a well not too far from the village."

"There are grave robbers and thieves there," Zaim said. "Choose a different village."

She remembered why she didn't like having the two in the same room. They were both such a pain to deal with at the same time. She sighed. She would have to choose later, this was giving her a headache. She turned to Zaim. "Didn't you have something to say to Bakura?"

Zaim was glaring at Bakura. He grumbled something and then said. "I'm sorry… that Meskhenet had to find your miserable existence." Bakura looked amused at his comment, but Meskhenet was shocked. She thought he was going to apologize for real. He glanced at her and sighed. "I apologize for my rude behavior and comments."

"If I don't accept his apology, what's going to happen?" Bakura said, amused to Meskhenet. He was talking as if Zaim wasn't there and she could tell Zaim was infuriated about this.

She whispered to him, "Just accept it!"

"Hmm," Bakura said, crossing his arms. He smirked at Zaim who looked like his eyes were on fire. "I suppose I accept your apologize."

"Thank. You." He said seething. "Meskhenet, I think you've earned the right to a staff." Was he trying to be nice to her or did he really think she deserved it? She didn't think she earned it. She still didn't feel as strong as she wanted to be and even with her ka now, she still felt weak. "You don't seem happy."

"Isn't this what you've been dying for?" Bakura asked her.

"I don't think I've earned it. I'm not as strong…" she muttered.

"You've earned it," Bakura reassured her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Take it while we're still here. Even if you don't think you're as powerful as you want to be, you can train until you've become stronger."

"Really?" she asked him, giving him a gentle smile. Somehow when Bakura said it, it felt genuine and honest, she wrapped her arms around him, ignoring Zaim who she could feel was burning a hole at the back of her. "Alright! Let's go get my staff!" she turned to Zaim who held up a hand to stop her growing excitement.

"You must be careful," he said. "You still have a long way to go before becoming a master of magic. I see that your life is headed to a different direction than mine." What was he talking about? Even if she moved closer to Thebes, she would still try and pay Zaim's family a visit or keep in touch. "But I want to warn you of the dangers ahead." He opened his palm and shadowy smoke appeared above it, taking the shapes of little humans and a crocodile. "Magic is like a wild beast. You can capture it, contain it, you can tame it to the best of your limits, but you must always be weary. If you turn away for the slightest of moments, it will devour you." To emphasize his point, the human shape turned around away from the beast and the crocodile ate the person, they both disappeared into smoke. "Magic is just the same."

"I remember," Meskhenet said. It was a long time ago, but he had given her the same warning when he first started teaching her. "You told me this before."

"Yes," Zaim said sadly. "Remember, Meskhenet, no matter how dark it gets there is always a light. Whenever you feel afraid, look for the light, it may not seem to be there, darkness may seem stronger, but the tiniest ray of hope can vanquish the greatest of shadows." She didn't understand but she knew why he was telling her this. "Fear is the strongest emotion." He was warning her of making the same mistakes Ata did. She had to keep those words close to her heart. She hesitated but nodded. Zaim cracked a smile, "I suppose we should head over to the Court of Magicians."

"Court of Magicians…?" Bakura asked.

Meskhenet turned to him. "Yes, it's in the—"

"Valley of the Queens," Bakura completed for her. "I've been there once."

"What?" Zaim said angrily. Meskhenet knew why. The Court of Magicians was where the orders and laws of magic were established. Many of the magician houses had at least one elder there. It was a sanctuary and academy for many people seeking the arts of magic. No outside person ever entered there unless they became a magician. Whoever else failed or turned away had their memories tampered so they forgot all arts of magic. This was the ways of old, unfortunately the Court of Magicians had been hushed recently and with some evil magicians wandering about, they seemed to be neglecting their duties. However, every magician still obtained their staff or wand from the Court of Magicians. Meskhenet had never been there herself. She only knew that most master magicians came from there. "Ugh, forget it, go pack! It's a few days' journey," he walked away, heading over back to town to fetch his horse.

Bakura mounted his horse and pulled Meskhenet up. "What is your verdict of Deir El-Medina?"

She laughed. "I think it sounds perfect."

"Meskhenet," Zaim called. She looked at him. "I have your horse back at my stables so you can ride on him without… him!" he pointed at Bakura before walking away. "Meet me at nightfall!"

Bakura laughed as she leaned her head onto his chest. He nudged Kek to walk towards her home so they could pack up whatever they needed. She already got some food so that was taken care of.

"So what was the Court of Magicians like?" she asked excitedly to Bakura as he made Kek trot. He was looking at her but then he kissed her. He must've missed her these past few days. She missed him too, the touch of his skin, the warmth of his body, the way he laughed and those eyes, those beautiful blue eyes… she caressed his face and kissed him again. They passed Zaim while he was walking. Meskhenet caught a glimpse of him and he looked like he wanted to set them on fire.

"Stop that!" he called. She pulled away and waved to Zaim.

"We'll meet you in town!" she called and Bakura made Kek gallop, leaving Zaim in the dust. "When did you go to the Court of Magicians?"

"Back when I was a kid—"

"Child," she corrected.

He ignored her. "It was a little after my village was attacked. I wounded up at the Valley of the Queens and ran into some crazy oracle."

An oracle? She was surprised. Zaim had once told her that oracles were bad people that used magic forbidden to this realm to predict the future, but in the end it had a heavy price. "What did the oracle tell you…?" she asked. He was silent.

"That I would cause a great darkness on this land," he said quietly. She didn't understand, but she was angry at the oracle. Who would tell a child that?

"Do you believe that?"

"This land is already dark," he said. They stopped talking after that but she had to agree with him. The world was cruel. They both knew that. Zaim knew it too.

They reached the town before Zaim and went over to her house. "How soon do you think we can move?" she asked, lightly stroking his chest. She had spent all her time outside her house because it just felt depressing in there, but whenever she was in there, it was night and she was usually spending that night in ecstasy with Bakura. Their nights were often filled with passion with neither one or the other able to keep their hands off each other, unfortunately when there wasn't moaning and grunting there were gasps and screams from both of their nightmares which often led them to taking night time strolls. She was beginning to have mixed feelings of the night.

"As soon as you're ready," he told her, brushing her hair with his fingers. "We'll be traveling with your master?" she nodded as Kek came to a stop in front of their house. Bakura slid off and brought her down, "We won't have any privacy for…" he trailed off, his eyes lowering to her pelvic area. Blushing, she lightly pushed his shoulder and scurried into her house.

"We can always slip away in the night if it gets pretty bad," she giggled as she pranced to her room. She went to her items, looking for a bag to pack her clothes but she had none. Frowning, she rummaged through her belongings, finding Bakura's violet robe from their wedding day and slipping it on. It was quite baggy on her with the sleeves covering her hands and the end dragging on the floor. "Bakura, do I have a bag?" she called. She heard some noises from the kitchen, Bakura apparently was hungry. "Bakura?"

"No," she heard him call. Sighing, she scratched her head. Her father had a bag. Getting up, she sighed and went across the room, opening the door to her father's that creaked open, the sunlight exposing the dust that floated in the air, Bakura had kept the door closed after their wedding night after he found that whenever he seemed to leave, her eyes always wandered to this room. Pursing her lips, she tiptoed inside as if she would awake the dead if she simply walked, dropping to her knees, she reached a hand under the bed, her hand finding a strap and clutching it as she dragged it out. It was a messenger's bag, a little heavy as some items were inside. Frowning, she spilled the contents only to have brown books and some papers and brushes fall out.

Picking up the book, she flipped through it, reading the passage on the random page she was at.

 _One must always remember: magic comes with a price._

 _This I have learned the hard way. My master and mentor before me has warned me on several occasions not to mess with forces I do not comprehend, but if I never study these spells than I will always remain ignorant in my way of comprehension. I have served the Queen's Court for five years now; I think I am responsible enough to understand the consequences of my actions without the pestering of my master. The King and Queen will surely be pleased if I attempt to decipher this 'Millennium Book'._

This was her father's old journal from when he was younger. Flipping through the other books, she found that each of them contained a different time period of her father's life, one chronicling his encounter with her mother, another describing his overabundance of joy at the birth of his son. In that same journal she found a passage of her birth. She felt her nose tingle and her eyes sting and she knew that if she continued to read, she would break down. She didn't want to, not now. Closing the book, she stuffed the rest of them back into the bag and then picked up the papers to see that they were water colored images of places. She turned the pictures to another page and found a messily but quite accurate picture of her mother. The painting captured her mother's beauty and dreamy look. Touching the images, she smiled as she turned the page over to find a picture of Hakim dressed in his soldier gear, the same way he was dressed the day before he left. He had his trademark smile, eyes closed with his lips curled into a pretty crescent, radiating kindness. She hugged the images of her mother and brother, sighing.

Bakura came in, eating an apple. He didn't say anything but suddenly paused as he crouched down beside her, picking up one of the stray papers. "These are my father's. He used to draw all the time but after we moved to Mallawi, he didn't draw as much. I didn't think he still had these," she chuckled, gently putting them in the bag. "What is that?" she peered over to Bakura's side to look at the image he was staring at. It was a painting of a village, small and near cliffs with stairs winding upwards through scattered squared buildings and houses. The colors used were quite dark, black and blue with a hint of purple, the image was quite sad.

"This is my village…" Bakura muttered quietly. She tilted her head to stare at it. This was Kul Elna? Wasn't it destroyed almost ten years ago? How did her father know what it looked like? Had he been there? "Why does your father have this?"

"I don't know. It's quite possible he visited Kul Elna," she tried, knowing that when she was young her father often traveled to Thebes but it was also possible he went to other places as well.

"No, he wouldn't have," Bakura said, glaring down at the picture before he turned a sharp gaze to her. "Kul Elna had a bad reputation, people of high officials usually sent servants and falcons there to communicate with them. No one wanted to enter a village of 'thieves and deviants'."

"I'm sorry, I don't know…he could've just passed by and painted it. He always used to do that, in fact that's how he met my mother when he came to Beni Suef to…" but Bakura had stopped listening and was continuing to stare intently at the image of his village. Slowly, she slipped it out of his grasp and placed it within the bag with the rest of the pictures. "I'm sorry."

He stood up and walked away, leaving her there. Did seeing the image of his village pain him? She didn't want him to hurt so she followed after him. "Bakura!" she grabbed his hand and tugged him back. He glanced at her, seemingly lost in thought. "Please…" she laid a hand to his chest and leaned over to kiss him on the lips. He closed the gap and kissed her softly before she rubbed her nose against his.

A knock came to her door. Turning, they spotted Gamilla with a sad expression wearing a light rose colored dress with a golden belt around the waist. That was quite the fancy dress she had on. Was that something she got from her time in Thebes? Financially, she shouldn't have been able to afford such a dress so Meskhenet wondered who gave it to her. "I…I got the news of what happened to your father. I know it's rather late but…I'm sorry for your loss, Meskhenet. I truly am," she came over to them, pulling Meskhenet away from Bakura who she shot a look before giving the redhead a hug. "You're on your own now." The gesture was appreciated and she was touched by the warmth of her friend.

"That's not true," Bakura said, and Gamilla glanced at him. "She has me now." Oh! She hadn't told anyone in Mallawi of her and Bakura. She held Gamilla at arm's length and was about to break the news but Bakura cut in, leaning close to her shoulder. "We were united the other day."

Gamilla gave him a look like she had no idea what he was talking about. Meskhenet laughed, "Bakura and I," she blushed, brushing her hair with her fingers, "Are wedded." Gamilla's eyes went wide as she glanced at him then at the redhead. "I know, it was a private thing and I'm sorry for not inviting you but it just happened and….now we're together!" Gamilla's eyes trailed down to Meskhenet pelvic area which made her roll her eyes. "Dear Ra, Gamilla!"

"I'm just wondering," Gamilla said stubbornly, "I mean you've been together a few…days now, is it?"

"Yes, we had sex," Bakura confirmed for her which made Meskhenet flush brighter as she covered her face. "Maybe I should say we've been having sex."

"Wow…" Gamilla said in the most monotone voice she could muster, "I never thought Meskhenet the Magician was going to not be a virgin."

Meskhenet shook her head, "Gamilla. I'm going to get my staff and then Bakura and I are moving to Deir El-Medina."

Gamilla didn't say anything. She seemed to be thinking of something, but she nodded and went to the door. Somehow, saying goodbyes to friends never hurt Meskhenet, not since Maat left but probably because she knew she would see them again. "I better get going, good luck, Meskhenet and again I'm sorry. I think your _husband_ wants to get in you." She gave her a haughty smile before disappearing. Meskhenet turned to Bakura who looked a little sad. She placed a hand to his face; she didn't like seeing him that way.

Suddenly, Bakura picked her up by her waist and lifted her into the air before picking her up bridal style and walking over to the room, closing the door behind him. He placed her down on the sheets and came to kiss her while she sniggered and shook her head. "We have to meet Master Zaim," she told him.

"I know," he continued to kiss her, "Let's just enjoy this." And she did, except she had to tell him off after he wouldn't let her go which angered her. She quickly stuffed her bag, taking out a few of her father's journals to make room, but keeping the paintings inside. When she told him to pack whatever he needed, he told her he didn't need anything except some time in heaven before her nagging master came. Embarrassed, she took off with him chasing after her until they reached outside and he picked her up from behind by the waist, placing her on Kek. Bakura led his horse by the reins to the direction Meskhenet told him. He was deep in thought as Kek snorted. She was riding side-saddle as she looked up at the sky. Bakura followed her gaze then said, "I looked at our secret star." She looked at him surprised and smiled. "You did too, yes?"

She nodded, a warm fluttering feeling in her heart. "It made me feel less lonely, but I like it better when you're here in person." They stopped in front of Zaim's house and waited for Zaim, chatting about the weather and Deir El-Medina. Zaim finally arrived, looking rather glum. He went into his stables and brought out her brown horse and his gray one.

"Well, that took a long time," Bakura commented, smirking at Zaim who slowly blinked in seething anger.

"Yes, well, Meskhenet, you need to give your horse a name," Zaim said as he handed her the reins. She took it and looked at her horse. He was brown with a black mane and tail. He was as tall as Kek but less noisy. He merely looked at her with his brown eyes. She petted his muzzle; he was quite beautiful with gentle eyes, so docile. What to name him? She thought about it.

She looked at Bakura. "Bakari," she concluded.

"How about Fadil?" Zaim suggested instead, but she laughed and shook her head, petting her horse. She realized that the soldier had not only given her a horse but a falcon as well. She looked at Zaim as she stopped petting her horse.

"What about the falcon?" she asked.

"It's at the palace," Zaim said. "If they contact you, it will be through that falcon. You can name him too, if you want." He made sure their horses were saddled then left to prepare some food and water for their trip. When he came back, they mounted their horses and headed on their way to the Valley of the Queens. Much to Zaim's complete disappointment, Bakura was coming along but Meskhenet was happy that he was. She missed him. They just walked their horses through the desert as Zaim was deep in thought.

"Is something wrong?" Meskhenet asked him, but he shook his head. "I didn't see Nakia or Skylar or Issar."

"Oh, they're at Thebes…" he said distractedly. She couldn't get him to talk so she took to talking to Bakura. Zaim rode ahead of the two while Kek and Bakari walked side-by-side.

"With the…" Bakura looked at Zaim, "Goods," Zaim didn't seem to hear him. "We got from the tomb we should be able to afford a nice house at Deir El-Medina." Zaim still didn't say anything. He must have been in real deep thought. "Most of the villagers are architects for the royal tombs, but they all are quite literate including the women."

"Well, that would be a nice change," Meskhenet laughed. She loved reading, but the only other woman in town she knew that read was Nakia. Most people were illiterate and it just kind of made things hard to connect with them. She couldn't really talk about her readings since she felt like she would be rubbing it in their face that they couldn't read. "Maybe people won't call me a witch."

Bakura laughed. "But you are a witch," he said. "Just look at your ka."

"Oh!" she said angrily. Regardless of her ka, she didn't like being called that. She swung an arm to strike his arm but he leaned away while she fumed. "Then you must be a snake!" he merely laughed at that. Deir El-Medina seemed to be the place he was looking forward moving to, but she thought it sounded nice. It would be a nice change to live closer to the palace than at the outskirts like she had been doing all her life. She remembered that Zaim had said there was a ghost town nearby. "What of the ghost town?"

Bakura became quiet. She wondered if she had said something wrong, but he shook his head. "Stay away from that town." She gave a worried look. Did he believe in ghosts? "It's abandoned."

"O—oh, alright," she said.

When night fell, they stopped and Zaim made a fire for them. He had been quiet for the most part, only saying a few things here and there but he still seemed distracted. He was sitting with his legs and arms crossed, staring blankly into the fire while Bakura was looking up at the stars with his legs stretched out and his arms behind him. Meskhenet was leaning on his shoulder. She and Bakura had been talking about dogs. She didn't remember how their conversation ended up on dogs, but it just had and she was giggling about puppies and Bakura's encounter with dogs when he was a child. Zaim finally looked up at them.

"No funny business," he told them, frowning but he still sounded distracted. He hadn't heard their conversation so he might not have understood why she was giggling. "Stop that…"

"Oh, Master Zaim, you do not understand," Meskhenet laughed. He just slowly blinked.

"No, maybe not but even still…" as if to spite Zaim, Bakura pulled Meskhenet into a long kiss. Zaim was glaring at Bakura now and Meskhenet couldn't help but laugh at his reaction, but that seemed to anger Zaim even more. He looked like he was going to catch on fire. "Get your filthy mouth off of her!"

Meskhenet pulled away, but she was still laughing. Zaim shook his head disapprovingly. "What? I'm allowed to touch my wife," Bakura said, putting an arm around Meskhenet's waist. "No harm done."

Zaim looked like he wanted to kill Bakura for that comment. "Regardless of whatever union you think you have, I still see my stupid apprentice frolicking with some thief. I do not approve of your outwardly display of sexual behaviors." Sexual behaviors? They weren't doing anything sexual… "Reframe yourself from such acts. It is abhorrently appalling."

Bakura ignored Zaim, sliding his hand over her back and rear, from the position they sat from the fire, Zaim couldn't see anything and he seemed rather focused on the fire to pay them anymore heed. Meskhenet leaned over Bakura, yawning before she lied down in the sand, gazing up at the stars, twinkling down on the earth. She wondered if the stars were each soul of a person who died and maybe the light they shined so brilliantly downwards was those lost souls reaching for their loved ones still here on earth. _What a strange thought…_ she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep with the warm sand as her bed and the night as her blanket.

The nightmares happened again, Zaabit laughing at her and Apep with his snakes coiling around the land and devouring everything in sight and then from the darkness she saw Diabound rising into the sky, his white scales reflecting the light of the dim sun until he became blackened and he changed, turning into a cobra and fiercely turning on her, hissing. Ata was there, standing in his shrine, praying to the image of the ugly beast. The stone began to break and an ugly clawed hand came pushing through, a flash of light appeared and she suddenly stood on the cliffs of the Valley, desperately searching for something. The Black Witch appeared but the mask was cracked and damaged with the tear strokes turning into blood, dripping down onto the black robes until the mask shattered into pieces, revealing not a face but an endless black hole that felt like it was sucking her in.

Gasping, she suddenly awoke with a jolt, breathing hard as she looked around, wiping sweat from her brow. It was just a dream, nothing more. She hated nightmares, why did they haunt her now? They were always about darkness and death sometimes featuring her family beckoning her over to the other side. She put a hand to her heart, waiting for it to slow down. The fire had been put out and Zaim lied across from her asleep while Bakura was nowhere in sight. Frantically, she looked around the camp, standing up and searching for him. Where was he?

She looked around until she came near the Nile to see Kek drinking and Bakura standing near his horse, a picture in his hands. Coming closer, she saw it was the painting of Kul Elna. Debating on whether she should leave him alone, she hesitated some feet away from him. His village had been destroyed and despite her trying to be there for him, to take away his pain, it was always going to be there. She could try to heal the wounds of the past, but they had left scars and scars didn't go away. Biting her lip, she looked back where the camp was over the hill and slowly she went back, holding herself.

"You had a nightmare," he said in a low voice. She turned around, a little startled that he noticed her presence. He didn't turn to her; he kept gazing at the picture. She just looked back, feeling slightly uncomfortable and awkward. Why couldn't she take away his pain? _Because you're not strong enough… you're not good enough._

"I just needed a little walk," she said, "I feel better now so I'm going to go back. Please, come back when you're done here…" he didn't say anything and it kind of hurt but she just smiled to no one in particular.

"Khenet," he called to her, and she hesitated.

"Yes…?"

"Why do you think people get punished?"

Looking down, she answered, "Because the gods have other plans for us. Sometimes it's because we're bad and need to be punished…other times we're just a piece in someone else's puzzle, slowly being put together for a greater image and sometimes the edges of that piece hurts." He finally turned around, putting the picture down. For a moment he looked at her, but his gaze made her uncomfortable. He seemed angry and sad and there wasn't anything she could do. "Why am I not enough…?'

He walked over to her and took her hand, leaning his forehead on hers. "You can't take my pain and make it your burden." He told her but his words cut like knives, he didn't need to suffer alone. "It's mine, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault I have this."

"Tell me what happened," she whispered, hoping he'd tell her what he saw, what kept him up at night. No, it wasn't her fault but she played a part in his healing as his friend, as his wife and to not be able to do anything made her feel useless.

"You wouldn't believe me," his voice held anger in it which made her take a step back. He seemed to notice this as he put a hand on her face, turning her head upwards so that he got a better look at her face. "You're enough," he told her, answering for her earlier question.

She didn't believe him. Taking his hand, she kissed his wrist and held onto it for dear life. "I can't take it away…"

"You being here… it's enough," he said. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him lightly. She wasn't strong enough to heal the wounds without scars; she needed to become stronger to take away his pain. She would become stronger, she concluded, for him.

"I'll stand by you, no matter what," she told him, "And when you're ready you can tell me." He only hugged her back and they stood there in silence. Scars couldn't be healed, they reminded people of the past but they could be looked over, she hoped. After a while, he pulled away, brushing her face with his hand before whistling Kek over and walking back to the camp with her. He handed her the picture when they sat down in front of the putout fire.

"Keep it," she told him, finding no use for it herself.

"No," he gave her a small smile, "I don't need it. You can keep it to see what my village was like and to remember that if things turned out differently I would've taken you there." Those words alone made her heart melt. He said that his village had a bad reputation, but it was his home and it was where his family was at. She would've loved to see the place he came from, meet the people he cared for. She took the picture and held it to her chest before she kissed him on the cheek, giving him a sweet smile.

"I would've loved to see it," she told him. He smirked at her and kissed her. They lied down and looked at the stars together, talking about the stars and what they were made of. The two eventually fell asleep only to be awoken by Zaim in the morning.

Moaning, she blocked the sun with her hand as she looked up at Zaim who was looking around, vigilant and silent as he scanned the area. He looked down at the two before lightly nudging her with his foot. "Get up; I need you two to…water the horses."

"What are you doing?" Bakura asked, getting up with a glare to the black haired man.

"Checking our rations," Zaim answered quickly, and Meskhenet knew he was lying. She stood up and stretched. Something was up, otherwise Zaim would've taken the horses himself and there wasn't a need to check their rations, they had more than enough supplies to last from the Court of Magicians and back.

"Come on, Bakura," Meskhenet told Bakura, taking the reins of Bakari and Kek, leading them on either side of her to the Nile. Bakura took Zaim's horse without a word, looking at him with suspicion. "He's hiding something."

"I don't know him and I realized," Bakura said as they skipped down the slope downwards to the green area where the rivers ran smoothly across the Egyptian land. The horses were let loose and greedily drank up while Bakura and Meskhenet huddled near each other; both a little weary after Zaim's odd dispatch.

Meskhenet twirled her hair in her fingers, deep in thought until she realized something. "Bakura," she said, and he glanced at her, "You're coming with me near Thebes…what—I mean this as polite as it can come—but what exactly will you be doing?"

"What I do best," he replied with a smirk, "Thieving."

"Around Thebes?" she asked, that sounded dangerous. Thebes was where the royal family was at; they would certainly have plenty of soldiers wandering about the city.

"Anywhere, everywhere," he replied. Her earlier thoughts about her life with a thief returned as she realized she really would be in the palace all the time and he would be where? Somewhere in Egypt away from her…what was the point then of their marriage? They wouldn't be able to be together. He seemed to notice her worry as he placed a hand on her arm and kissed her on the forehead, "And when we're ready, you're coming with me."

She didn't quite understand that but before she could ask, Bakura looked up passed her, alert and seemed to be staring at someone. Turning slowly, she spotted who he was looking at. Ata and one of his lackeys were standing some distance away, their hoods drawn over their faces as usual. Ata had the black book in his hand. He removed his hood to reveal his face, still covered in bandage and he wore a sympathetic expression that she couldn't help but think it was fake.

"I offer my sincere condolences for your loss. I never had any real ill-will towards Yaqeen and I'm sad to know you didn't use my potion," he said, "It could've saved him."

"You think you can be trusted after everything that happened," Bakura said, holding Meskhenet close as she stared at Ata, a feeling of foreboding filling her. Staring deep into his golden eyes she saw something in it, an evil glint and a look of triumph as if he won.

"You don't understand. I needed Yaqeen, I needed his ka and with him alive I could've easily _persuaded_ him to help me. Now that he's dead though," Ata frowned as he looked to the side, "I have to go through great pains to find it now."

"I told you to stay away," Meskhenet said, ready to summon her ka.

"And I told you that the losers don't get to decide," Ata grimaced, "I'll leave you be once you help me. I need the Time Wizard and the Millennium Tablet." She didn't know what happened to the Time Wizard, in all her grief she had neglected to ask what happened to him. Zaim would probably know. What was this Millennium Tablet though? Bakura stiffened almost as if he recognized it. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Bakura…?"

"The one in Kul Elna, of course, there's only that one," Ata said, "It holds the power to revive the Dark Lord."

"…" Bakura glared at him.

"You don't know the power it holds," Ata went on but suddenly the sky darkened and from the area of their camp a flame burst and suddenly one of his lackeys got thrown off, rolling in the sand before she jumped to her feet, "Chione."

The woman had blackish green hair with a hint of blue to it that reached her shoulders; she was rather pretty except she had an odd tattoo on her face and her eyes were red which defiantly wasn't normal. She looked to Ata before Volcanic Wings burst from the sand above, screeching as he came hurtling towards the woman, his flaming wings, brushing up against the sand and catching fire to it. Both Meskhenet and Ata raised up barriers to protect their surrounding area before Ata shot a blast at her that Bakura took, throwing him back.

"Bakura!" she shouted, looking back but it was a mistake because the woman next to Ata shot another blast, throwing her off her feet and into the dirt. The horses became restless, neighing and scurrying some distance away. From the hilltop, Zaim appeared, glaring down at his brother who turned and smirked at him.

"This has nothing to do with you, brother!" Ata hissed, raising his hands in the air. A black staff materialized in his hand, it was wooden with a curved hollow at the end that wrapped and twisted around a blue gem, glinting in the light. He pointed his staff at Volcanic Wings and sent ice crystals at the bird that shielded himself with his rocky wings, letting the ice shattered into particles. He was insane, attacking a ka and yet, he kept up his ice magic against the bird, slowly weakening its defense by freezing his wings around his body. Zaim sent a shockwave vibrating through the air but both of Ata's lackeys rose up a defensive barrier against him and then Chione blasted him with fire.

Bakura grabbed Meskhenet's hand and pulled her to her feet while she spotted Diabound slithering through the ground to the other woman who noticed and blasted at the poor snake. Diabound rolled to the side and hissed before opening his mouth wide and sending out a volley of energy blasts. The woman shielded herself with her arms, not making any noticeable signs of pain from the attacks of the little snake.

"There are three of us and three of them," Bakura told her, smirking. If he thought that was a game, he was wrong. They wouldn't make it against Ata's group. He was too strong and Bakura didn't even have magic. Zaim used to always tell her not to involve regular people in magic because it was dangerous to them. Bakura probably could fight with knives and a sword, but magic had an advantage of long range and with Diabound's height being so small, she was really worried for him.

"Get out of here!" Zaim shouted to them while enacting a shield around himself to protect him from Chione's attacks. Ata kept his offense against Volcanic Wings and Diabound easily dodged and blasted the other woman.

"We have to go," Meskhenet told Bakura who seemed disappointed by her response. She didn't wait for him to protest; she took his hand and ran over to the horses, quickly grabbing the reins of Bakari and Kek. She felt like a coward for running, she wanted to stay and fight, if not to help Zaim, to have a rematch against Ata for her earlier defeat. _I'm not strong enough,_ that's what she kept telling herself and she knew it was true even with her ka, she wouldn't be able to defeat Ata. She climbed onto Bakari, grabbing a handful of his reins but suddenly something sharp struck her in the back and sent her falling into the water as she gasped out in pain.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ata said, casually walking over. Getting up, she held her back and wearily looked onto him. "How about this? We fight one on one, no one coming to rescue the other. Agree?"

"No," she said, her body shaking in fear. She didn't like this at all, but as she looked around, she saw that the whole area was changing. It turned from its natural landscape to a cloud of darkness of purple and black surrounding everything and blocking her view of the Nile, the sky and even the horses. She took a look at Bakura who glanced at her and before she could run, he disappeared behind a wall of clouds. She ran where he was, looking around, "Bakura?" she looked for Zaim and Volcanic Wings but saw nothing but the darkness and it frightened her. Her heart shook with fear as she took some steps back. "Bakura! Master?"

"They can't hear you," Ata said and his form appeared from the darkness. "It's just you and me."

"You won last time. What do you want from me?" she asked, holding herself.

"I need my legacy to continue. The Dark Lord must rise. The prophecy said so," Ata took a few steps forward, and she took a few steps back. "I must find my successor."

"And you think I'm this successor?" she asked exasperated. "I want nothing to do with you! With this Dark Lord! I just…"

"You don't know what you want. Your dreams are shattered. Your life ruined. Don't you see? You and I, we're the same."

She remembered what his lackeys were talking about. They thought she wasn't the one. A thought occurred to her, this Millennium Tablet…what was it? Bakura knew about it. A shiver ran through her insides. What if it wasn't her? What if it was Bakura? He was ruined from a long time ago. His village, his family, everything, they were all taken from him. Her mother taken from her at the age of ten, her father and Taymur now, her brother's death was no one's fault, she had no bitterness against him but Bakura, he had so much hurt and hatred and rage.

The waves of despair washed over her as her body shook. If the prophecy was to pass, she knew she wasn't going to be the one to raise the Dark Lord. Bakura was. Ata couldn't know though, she couldn't let Bakura get involved in this mess. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, allowing Ata to get closer to her until she felt his cold hands on her shoulders.

"When the Dark Lord rises, resurrection is possible and you can be reunited with the ones you loss like Mother and I."

"It's against the gods wish," she said, opening her eyes to look into his golden eyes. She hated the color gold. It was a swirling abyss of deception, power absorbing the souls of the misguided. Gold, she hated gold.

"The gods forsake us! Where are they now?! You speak of their greatness but where are they now?! Osiris was resurrected, why should we be any different? Why do they insist on separating the ones we love?" his grip tightened on her, and she winced. "When calamity strikes Egypt who's there to fix it? Not the Pharaoh, not the gods, the people are!"

"Let go!" she shouted, blasting him away only for him to double over and laugh. "Stay away from me! _Sedjet en sedjet!"_ with the flick of her wrist, a flame appeared within her hand and she threw it at him, allowing it to spiral into a forcing flame coming right at him but much to her dismay he easily rose one hand and countered the attack with an ice shield that turned to water at his feet, sizzling to steam. He sent a volley of blasts her way, with the swinging of her arms she countered them one by one until she let loose a wind shockwave to send him further away from her. He slowly rose and started his way towards her, chanting incoherent words under her breath. He sent ice shrapnel her way, however she rose a wall of fire around herself, trapping her within, though she anticipated him to attack her from the only opening there was which was above. Looking up, she saw a sword of ice hurtling down; she rolled through the flames, narrowly avoiding the hit as the ice's content with the ground put out the fire. She brushed off the flames that she caught like it was nothing.

Ata seemed to use ice often, but she wondered if it was because she and Volcanic Wings were using fire. If she were to change that… she raised her hand and sent ice knives darting his way, he rose a shield of ice around himself but her knives pierced through, making him to quickly counter with a fire wall of his own. Water, wind, thunder, fire, earth… it didn't matter the attack, he countered them all with the appropriate opposing element and he did it as quickly as she changed up her spells. At one point, he tried using illusion magic, but she countered with the right defensive spell. She couldn't keep this up, she felt her _heka_ weakening.

"Without a staff, you're using too much _heka,_ " he chuckled. She looked around of where they were and thought about the darkness. She couldn't see anything and blasting it did nothing. It was darkness. What happened at night? Crimes, thieves stole, hiding in plain sight because there weren't any lights to expose where they were even if they were quite near the soldiers. _Darkness…_ that's it! "With your help, the Dark Lord may raise sooner if you just let me in…"

"I want nothing to do with your cult," she told him as placed a hand over her chest, touching the fabric of her dress and changing the color to black, slowly shadows began to form around her until she was nothing but a part of the darkness of the background. Her vision wasn't great though, shrouded in shadows, it was a bit blurry but she could see where she was going. She moved so that she was behind him while he looked around.

"Camouflage? I'm impressed," Ata said, stalking around and eyes darting. He didn't see her, good. She sent a flame blast at him, however he spun around and deflected it with an ice attack before blasting lightning where she had been standing. Luckily, she had snuck around the other side. "You can't hide forever."

She looked at her hand then swirled and waved her other hand over it to create a dagger made of ice within her grasp. It was cold and hard, it should do the trick. Taking a deep breath, she flitted over to where he was and then stuck the dagger in the back of him, making him scream out in pain. Quickly, she pulled it out and tried to escape but he spun around too fast and ended up smacking her across the face, causing her to fall to the ground. She cursed and stood up. He wore an evil smirk.

"Found you," he said, sending a lightning spell her way. She threw the dagger at the spell, reflecting the lightning his way while simultaneously crumbling to nothing. She readied another fire spell and sent it his way while he was recovering from his attack. It hit him, throwing him back. Not waiting for him to recover, she sent a lightning spell and then touched the ground, making ice creep towards him until it encased his legs and arms while he struggled to break free. "Damn…"

The darkness suddenly disappeared, being sucked up into a vortex of nothingness, making everything normal. Looking around, she spotted Zaim in a duel of magic with Chione while Bakura was sword fighting the other woman. Despite the shadows disappearing, the sky was becoming dark and ominous. Ata was chuckling while thunder rolled on by, booming and flashing. Something was forming behind Ata, something dark and ginormous. As the form came into view, Meskhenet gasped, taking a step back while her heart was pounding too quick she could swear she was going to have a heart attack.

Behind Ata was a huge beast, dark and ugly with three heads: one of a goat, one of a lion and another of a scaly dragon. Black wings protruded from its back, spanning a large distance on either side of it, the body was that of a decaying lion and its tail was that of a snake. The mane of the lion was black and yet it was dripping wet with blood, the eyes of all the heads were black voids, no eyeballs inside. It frightened her, it was like staring into an abyss that'd stole one's soul.

"Run!" she heard Zaim shout and just then the lion head looked down at her, roaring into the desert before swinging a paw at her. She couldn't move, she was frozen in place, scared and shaking, weakened from her duel with Ata. She heard galloping and suddenly Bakari was standing in front of her, restless and yet waiting for her to get on. She quickly jumped on and ran away from the chimera as the paw made contact where she stood, destroying the area. "Get out of here, now!"

Was this a shadow game? Meskhenet had heard of it from Zaim a long time ago, but she had never actually seen one. She didn't like it though. Zaim chanted a spell and raised his hand in the air; lightning struck down, shattering the darkness. Ata looked annoyed. One of his female companions began to chant a spell but Zaim sent another lightning attack at her. She quickly countered it. The chimera lunged at Volcanic Wings as it screeched. Bakura was already on Kek and heading her way, he grabbed the reins of her horse, startling him before they both galloped out from the Nile and upwards to the hills, kicking up sand.

Zaim clutched his chest as Ata laughed. "Volcanic Wings, take it to the skies!" Zaim said, whistling as his horse came running to him. He got on his horse. Volcanic Wings screeched then grabbed the chimera by the goat neck and lifted it into the sky. Kek and Bakari galloped onwards to the Valley of the Queens, nearing the distant cliffs and mountains. Zaim led Ata away but his two companions were coming after them.

"Damn!" Bakura said as one of the magicians shot a blue fire ball at them. Meskhenet moved Bakari to the side and the flame exploded in the sand. "I'm not adapted to deal with magic."

She looked at him. He was at a disadvantage and danger. Ata wanted him and her which weren't fair, at least for him because he had nothing to do with her family. He had something to do with this 'Dark Lord' which frightened her. She didn't want to believe in the prophecy; Bakura couldn't be the one to help Ata. She wouldn't allow it. She chanted a protection spell and an invisible barrier was placed around him. That should dispel most magic but she couldn't guarantee his safety still. He looked at the canyons then at her. He knew this area more than she did. They locked gazes with each other and she knew what he wanted to do: split up and divide the women, but would he be alright? She had to trust him, he didn't have magic but he had skills and intelligence. She nodded, and he turned Kek away, leading Chione to follow after. The one following Meskhenet chanted a lightning spell and lightning struck down in front of Bakari, he reared up and she fell off him but luckily he didn't run.

The woman pulled her horse to a stop and began to chant another spell. Meskhenet cursed under her breath, she barely stood against Ata. She couldn't possibly defeat his lackey. Annoyed and desperate, she summoned the Black Witch who materialized above her, the black robes billowing in the stormy air as the witch blasted a wind shockwave at the woman. The horse and woman were blown away, only for the woman to get up like that hadn't fazed her at all. Her hood fell off, revealing her face. She was pretty but had an expressionless face. Her hair was black and pulled over both her shoulders with her bangs swept to the right. Her eyes weren't gold like Ata's but a pale green. She had a tattoo on her face and a scar on her neck.

" _Sedjet en sedjet!_ " Meskhenet chanted and fire swirled around her, rising to the sky in the shape of a phoenix. It flied straight towards the woman but she quickly countered with a water spell then readied another lightning spell. Meskhenet rolled to the side to avoid the attack. The woman threw a blue flame, but Meskhenet countered with a barrier spell. "Just leave!"

"I must obey my master," the woman responded in her monotone voice. Her master, right, Ata, she mentioned that the other night too. Meskhenet sent a wind spell hurtling at the woman. The woman easily countered it with a dark spell. Neither of them was hitting the other, if they kept this up they both would use up all their _heka,_ hers faster than Ata's lackey as she spent most of it on Ata. "I must take you to him."

Meskhenet jumped onto her horse and nudged him to gallop. The woman did the same with her horse and chased after Meskhenet. She spotted Bakura in the distance on top of Chione on the ground, he must've jumped off Kek and onto Chione as Kek was running above on the canyons and her horse had run off. Chione let out an agonizing scream out of pain. Out of instinct, she raised her hand and blasted Bakura back, making him tumble in the sands before she stood up, clutching her stomach. Despite being wounded, Chione was still readying another attack while Bakura was recovering.

Meskhenet rode Bakari over to Bakura just as he got up. "Bakura!" she shouted, getting closer. She reached a hand to him, grabbing his and helping him onto her horse as they rode off away from Chione who was gritting her teeth in anger. Bakura had a bloody dagger in his hand.

"Chione," the monotone woman said.

"Damn… you!" the mid haired woman screamed. Bakura whistled for Kek who made a U-turn and headed back down the canyon. The black haired woman pulled Chione onto her horse and gave chase. Chione began to chant a healing spell, her hand engulfed in a green light that she placed over her wound.

Bakura was looking back. "Is there an end to a person's magic?" he asked as Chione had finished healing her wound then began to chant an offensive spell. The sky above darkened as black clouds rolled in and thunder rumbled, lightning shook the sky and rain began to pour down. Meskhenet couldn't believe that one person was able to cast such an immense spell on their own.

"Yes, if we run out of _heka_ then we will be rendered useless. Summoning one's ka can drain their energy as well," she replied through the rain. She wished Zaim was here. She wasn't a master magician yet, she couldn't possibly take these two on her own. She saw Volcanic Wings in the sky, he was flying towards them. A lightning bolt hit the ground in front of Bakari and she quickly pulled the reins to make him move to the right. They were heading up a canyon. Kek was making his way towards them.

Another lightning bolt hit the ground to their right and she turned Bakari again. _They're not striking us… their luring us somewhere!_ She tried to turn Bakari around, but she couldn't. Lightning struck down every time she tried to move off the path they had made for them. _Ammit, this is bad!_

Volcanic Wings swooped low, but the black haired woman shot an ice blast at him. He cried in pain and rose to the sky. Volcanic Wings shot a fireball at them from his mouth, but they easily dodged it on their horse. Kek came right next to Bakari and Bakura jumped on his horse. A lightning bolt struck down between Bakari and Kek. Suddenly another lightning bolt struck the black haired woman, but she only staggered as if the attack meant nothing.

Zaim came over on his gray horse. "Meskhenet!" he shouted as he came over to her left.

"Where's Ata?" she asked. She got the feeling Zaim hadn't defeated him and it scared her to think where the man was and where those women were luring them to.

Zaim shook his head. "He got away…"

"How do we lose them?" asked Bakura. Zaim looked uncertain. He looked back at the two then pulled his horse to a stop. He chanted a spell and the sun tore through the clouds, the rain stopped and the thunder made a low grumbling noise before the sky was normal. _He's using too much of his magic._ Zaim sent a fire shockwave before he came following Meskhenet and Bakura.

They were on the canyons now, overlooking the ravines of the Valley. There was another cliff above them. This had been where they were luring them, but there was nothing but a dead end up ahead. She had been expecting a trap. Perhaps they wanted to drive them off the cliff? She looked at the cliff above; it was looming over them, casting a large shadow. She looked back at the two women. " _Earth bounded beneath, come undone!_ " Meskhenet chanted. The rocks of the cliff above shook and shuddered before a large chunk of it cracked and fell right above them but their horses galloped right out of danger and the rocks shook the earth as they fell right in front of the women and their horse. Meskhenet felt a bit fatigued after that spell. She already used a lot of magic and summoned her ka. She had been careless.

Suddenly, the horses whined and neighed. She saw beneath the ground that the chimera of Ata's was beneath them, in the ground as if it had phased through! She was right above the lion's mouth while the dragon's head was beneath Bakura and the goat beneath Zaim. The lion's mouth was like a black void, sucking her and Bakari in, just like the chimera's eyes. She felt like time had slowed down as she turned and looked up, Ata was above them, watching. He smiled his sinister smile as his eyes met hers.

Time resumed as Volcanic Wings shot a fireball at the chimera, it retreated within the ground and Meskhenet pulled her horse to a stop. Bakura and Zaim did the same as Ata laughed at them. Bakura was looking around for the chimera, but Meskhenet was worried about something else. A part of her felt like it had been absorbed by the chimera, she felt a little hollow, was it fear? No, something else…something she didn't know.

"Ata! This ends now!" Zaim shouted as Volcanic Wings appeared, swooping low to attack Ata, but the chimera jumped out of the cliff, phasing right through it and it bit Volcanic Wings in the chest and wings. Zaim held his chest and grimaced. Ata was laughing as the chimera pulled Volcanic Wings in the ravine down below. They were fighting but Volcanic Wings was losing. Zaim kept clutching his chest in pain as he glared up at his twin brother.

Meskhenet was about to summon her ka, but she saw Ata chant a spell and suddenly a blue shockwave exploded in front of them, sending debris and wind coming right at them. The horses neighed as they tried to stay grounded. The three of them were blown off their horses just as the shockwave ended. Meskhenet quickly got up and prepared to summon her ka once again but another shockwave happened.

Again, it was like time had slowed down to a stop. She was blown back and she realized she was just over the edge of the cliff. Her feet no longer on the ground, she was going to fall. She saw Ata chuckling as he smiled at her. And she knew he had planned this whole thing. He said something to her and it was almost like he was right next to her, whispering in her ear but when Bakura and Zaim shouted, they seemed so far away.

"Meskhenet!" Zaim shouted.

"Khenet!" shouted Bakura and time resumed, she fell down the cliff and into a crevice down below. She saw Volcanic Wings rise to the sky, and Bakura jump in after her.

* * *

Author's Note: Saw Doctor Strange yesterday and thought it was awesome~. Anyway, next chapter I think is considerably shorter. I think I'll post in a few days since lately I've been posting every 2 weeks almost when I just wanted it to be a week. I'm very tired and don't know what else to say? I'll probably find something I missed and comment on it :P.


	31. Chapter XXXI: The Skeletons

Chapter XXXI: The Skeletons

Meskhenet awoke face down in a dark area. She sat up, groaning, there were no sounds except for the sound of water dripping into a puddle. It was cold and damp down here. She looked up to see nothing but darkness. She waited where she was for several minutes, awaiting her eyes to adjust to the dark but after a long time the thought crossed her mind that there wasn't anything for her eyes to adjust to. The thought frightened her, where was she? She rubbed her arms and stood up.

Everything was black wherever she looked, but that couldn't be. She fell down the cavern in the ground, she should see the sky or some sort of light. But wait… how had she survived that fall? She needed to get out of here, but how? There were no directions, nothing. The only thing she heard was the water and the only thing she could see was herself. She reached out her arms and felt around for anything, but there was nothing. Fear struck her core and she shivered. She was alone.

"Hello?" she called to no one. She began to hyperventilate. _No, no, no, Meskhenet, calm down!_ She needed to find a way out. She was still fatigued from using up her magic but she chanted her fire spell and opened the palm of her hand, but nothing happened. She chanted the spell again, she tried other spells too. Nothing. "Hello?!" she tried again, more desperately. She didn't want to be alone, not in this place.

She ran forward, hoping to find something in the darkness, but the continuous darkness made her feel like she wasn't moving. She tried following the sound of water, but it didn't get any closer. She was beginning to lose hope… what if she was dead? Was this the afterlife? Where were Anubis and Osiris? She fell to her knees, shivering, trying to calm her breathing. She was so cold and her damp dress did nothing for her. She wanted Bakura here and his warmth. She needed to get back to him…

She looked up when she heard a chattering noise. What was that? She got up; the noise sounded like it was coming closer to her. It shattered the silence and almost became deafening then she saw where it was coming from. A single human skull floated through the darkness, spinning and grinning as it came over to her. She moved back but it danced around her before stopping in front of her. It spun and spun until it stopped all motion, simply floating in the darkness in front of her.

What was it? What was going on? Then it opened its mouth and a loud scream echoed through the darkness. She covered her ears and flinched. Then she heard a crackling laughter and looked around, confused. Was someone else here?

"Right here, my dear!" and she looked at the skull, its jaw unhinging and hinging as if it was laughing. She screamed. "What's wrong, my dear?"

"W—what?!" she fell back as the skull came closer. She scooted back but the skull got real close to her and she heard a sniffing sound, but the thing had no nose.

"Oooh, you have a good darkness inside of you. Another person had some great darkness but he was too far away to get," said the skull. She didn't know what he was talking about but he was creepy. "You know him?"

"I…"

"He has blue eyes and white hair!" Bakura! She hesitated but nodded and the skull spun around, laughing. "Who is he? Wait, wait! Let me guess… he is… someone important to you!" She didn't answer. "A lover?" the skull crackled.

"H—how do I get out of here?" she asked, mustering her courage as she stood up. Knowing Bakura was here made her feel a little better. If she could just find a way to get out of this place, she could find him.

The skull got right in her face and she backed up. "But you just got here!"

"I—I would like to leave… please."

"Hmm, no, no can't do! There is no way out of here!" it laughed.

"There has to be a way out," she said with a shaky voice. Those words alone made her feel like there was no hope, but Bakura was here, there had to be a way out. The skull spun and spun but he kept repeating that there was no way out. It was getting on her nerves. Where was she? Had she gone crazy? "There has to be a way out! I got in here so if there is an entrance then there's an exit."

The skull stopped spinning and thought for a moment. Its tone changed into that of a malicious tone as it whispered bitterly. "But this is your place, your mind. There is no way out." Her mind? This wasn't her mind. She wouldn't think of skeletons and darkness…

"Stop lying and tell me!" she shouted

"You saw the content of your soul by your ka. It's a witch! A witch!" it laughed at her, "You have darkness growing inside of you. It's good, good! The Dark Lord will love it!"

"Shut up!" she balled her hands into fists and squeezed her eyes shut. "I just want to know how to get out!" but the skull laughed and laughed. "This is Ata's trick, isn't it? Get out of my mind! This is illusions, isn't it?" she chanted a counter spell but nothing happened. Magic wasn't working…was this really her mind? Was the skeleton a form of invasion from Ata? She didn't know but inside her chest something felt off, like there was a presence there, touching and brushing against her heart, perverting it with the hint of coldness.

"Hmm, that so?" the skull just cackled, not denying or confirming that it was an illusion. She wanted to burn the skull but she had no magic. "What if this was real and you were just the illusion?" She walked passed the skull; she didn't need to listen to this nonsense. The skull floated behind her, crackling. "Psst, don't you think it would be better for you to just die?"

"Stop talking to me!" she turned around to face the skull but it danced around her. Her body was shaking in a mix of fear and anger. She needed to get out of here. Oh, where was Bakura?

"You'll be with your family, the people you know who truly love you." As if to emphasize his point, something shimmered and rippled in the distance and a golden glow appeared. A rip in the hole of darkness showcasing a golden field of wheat and the familiar sounds of sheep bleating reached her. Her father was there, leaning on his staff and laughing as her brother played with Taymur and some other sheep. Her mother was there too, watching her son play in the field.

Meskhenet felt something tug at her heart and she knew it was longing and pain. A part of her wanted to be with her family, but she had a life and she had Bakura. She would join her family when it was her time. It was what they would have wanted. For now her time was Bakura's, she couldn't leave him. He already lost so many others…

Her father turned to her and smiled sadly. He reached out a hand to her, "Come, Mes, come join us…"

She clenched her hands into fists. "How dare you!" she yelled at the skull. "My father would never ask me to throw my life away! Do not antagonize my father!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Looks like a storm is blowing!" the skull laughed and the imagery of her family disappeared.

"Leave me alone!" she shouted and stalked away.

"Wait, wait! You have yet to meet my friends!" he danced around her as she walked on but suddenly she felt the ground beneath her disappear and she fell down. She screamed but landed on her rear, quickly getting up. She looked around as the skull floated down. "Psst, friends, we have visitors!"

Suddenly, skeletons of all types appeared in her vision. Some were chained to the darkness as if chained to walls; others were crumbled on the ground. They all whispered and a hand grabbed her ankle. She screamed and kicked the arm off. The skeletons on the invisible walls shuddered and shook as they began to laugh. Two skeletons from the floor rose up in perfect bony forms and they danced around her, laughing. She placed her hands over her ears. She didn't want to hear them, not their whispering, not their laughter. She wanted to go home. She wanted Bakura.

"The great Master Zorc wishes to meet you!" a skeleton said. She instantly remembered right before she fell, Ata had said something to her. He had said that Zorc Necrophades would be resurrected once more. His Dark Lord, his damn cult, she didn't understand what was so wrong with their gods, their pharaoh? What was so great of this Dark Lord?

"Yes, yes, Zorc, but he needs help! Someone has stolen his powers!"

"The Millennium Spellbook, yes, yes, return the Millennium Items to Zorc."

"Shut up!" she shouted. What were these damn skeletons talking about?! "SHUT UP!" And they all silenced. She was breathing hard but she couldn't feel her heart at all. "I don't want anything to do with Zorc or Ata or any of this darkness! I want to go home…"

The skull floated to her. "It really isn't up to you. Want to know a secret?" he came near her ear and she shivered. Despite being a skull, she felt a breath on her and it made her stiffen. "You don't need to join your family in the afterworld. You can bring them back!"

This again, Ata mentioned this earlier. He said he attempted it; but the question remained, was it really possible? "No!" she shouldn't be thinking of resurrection. Even if it was possible, it was forbidden. It was wrong.

"Resurrection is possible. It can bring you peace!"

"I don't understand…"

"Ahahah, don't worry! Resurrection is possible," he said again. "But the soul needs to be on earth."

"I—I don't want anything to do with what…" even though she said that, a part of her really wanted to know how it worked, did it work?

The skeletons began to laugh and jolt as if being electrocuted. She held herself as the skull spun and spun, crackling and laughing. She stared at the skull in horror as the top of its head began to spill blood. It spun and spun and spun and she was met with a flash of images. A beast of immense ugliness came into her vision. It was dark with an ugly face, sharp teeth pressed together and two small horns pointing out of the top of its head, it had two large horns at the sides with wings that had clawed hands at the thumbs of the wings. Its body was almost humanoid but it had a dragon tail protruding from the back and a long dragon head protruding from the middle abdomen. Its eyes were beady and red and somehow Meskhenet knew that that was Zorc Necrophades. The same image from the tablet she saw some time ago.

She squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, a long and painful scream. The skeletons kept laughing and laughing. She held her head. "Get out! Get out!" She hated the dark until it hit her. She looked up at the laughing skull. The darkness…

 _Remember, Meskhenet, no matter how dark it gets there is always a light. Whenever you feel afraid, look for the light, it may not seem to be there, darkness may seem stronger, but the tiniest ray of hope can vanquish the greatest of shadows…Fear is the strongest emotion_.

This was just darkness like Zaim had said! If she concentrated hard enough, she could find the light! She closed her eyes and concentrated hard, passed the laughter and the taunting, she imaged a light shining from somewhere and somehow Diabound came to her mind. The white snake flapping its little white wings as he flied through the air, the thought somehow eased her and she let out a sigh.

She opened her eyes and felt someone grapping her wrists. "Khenet!" it was Bakura! She was so happy to see him! She hugged him, but his hold was hesitant before he wrapped his strong arms around her. She was so glad he was here; she could feel her heart now, beating wildly in fright and love. He felt very warm and it was like all her fears had disappeared. They were deep down in the crevice; rocky walls surrounded them and above through a small gap were the blue sky, down below there was nothing but shadows from the walls.

"Oh, Bakura!" she exclaimed, shaking. He stroked her hair. "There were these… these skeletons and they were laughing! They all were laughing!" she sobbed, but he shushed her as he stared passed her at something in the dark.

"It's… alright," he said. "We need to get out of here."

"What about Master Zaim? Is he alright?"

"I don't know, I jumped in after you," that's right, she remembered that. "Come on…" he took her by the hand and led her away. He looked back at the pile of silent and motionless bones lying near a rock.

* * *

"Master Zaim!" she called as they climbed out of the crevice. Zaim was sitting with his back against the cliff, a hand to his chest. He was breathing hard and looked exhausted but he looked relieved to see her. The three horses were there, stomping their feet as Zaim unsteadily got up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, are you hurt?" he asked, grimacing. She shook her head. As far as she knew, she didn't seem to be hurt, the only thing that bothered her was the presence she felt still at her heart but she figured it must've just been the fear after seeing those damn illusions. He didn't look well. Maybe they should just head home and worry about her staff later. "The Court of Magicians is another day away, we can still get there."

She shook her head. "We should go home. You need rest," she didn't ask about Ata. She knew what had happened. He got away. "You've used up a lot of your ba."

"No, no, I'm fine!" he insisted irritated, but he looked like he was in deep pain. "We can still get there."

"My staff can wait," she insisted, but he looked angry at her reply.

"I said I'm fine!"

"Let's just head back to Mallawi. It's useless if we get to the Court of Magicians and you end up dead," Bakura said irritated as he walked over to Kek who stomped his foot. "If you insist on going like this, you might as well end up dead in the desert. Khenet needs rest too, you selfish bastard."

"Bakura!" she said in disbelief as she turned to him, but he mounted his horse and shrugged. Zaim was glaring at Bakura only to sigh.

"Fine…" he said as he straightened up a bit. "It was rather selfish. You need rest too." She didn't think so, but maybe a good night's sleep was all she needed to get the fear out. Meskhenet was about to walk over to Bakari, but Zaim called her. "What is that?" he pointed somewhere. She turned around and looked. There wasn't anything there. "No, in your hand…"

She looked down and saw that she was holding a black bounded book. And her heart froze as she jolted. Wasn't this Ata's black book? No, Ata had it, didn't he? Why did she have it…"Oh!" she dropped the book, holding her hand as if it was wounded as she stared in horror at the black book. She hadn't remembered getting that from anywhere or even Ata giving it to her. How had she got this? What was this book? She was too scared to open it as she felt that perhaps something was actually inside now. Zaim picked it up and opened it. It was blank as he flipped through it. "I—I don't know…"

"This was Ata's," Zaim said in thought. "I'll keep this for now." He slowly walked over to his horse and hesitated. He mounted it, and Meskhenet did the same on her horse. They rode back to Mallawi and got there by the next night (they had to make constant stops for Zaim) but once they were there, Zaim had returned home. He told them before that Ata wouldn't be bothering them anymore since he 'got what he wanted' but no one knew what that meant. He took Kek and Bakari too so they could rest up.

Bakura walked hand-in-hand with Meskhenet but her mind was on the darkness and the skeletons. She shivered. Bakura looked worried. "Are you alright?" he asked her. She looked at him and smiled. She couldn't explain what happened down there. She could barely believe it herself but it was haunting her. She also remembered that Ata needed Bakura not her and yet Ata kept coming at her. He was confused and yet she found this better. She would pretend to be what he needed so he would leave Bakura alone. Bakura had enough pain. He nudged her arm and she realized she hadn't said anything to him. She was too tired to say anything so she just nodded but he didn't look like he believed her. He stopped, pulling her along. "Khenet…"

"I'm really tired, Bakura," she said. "I'd rather not talk about it… can we just go home?" and they did. They went to her room and she changed and lied down on the sheets next to Bakura. He was facing towards her, leaning his head on his hand and playing with her hair. Although she felt tired, sleep wouldn't come and it disappointed her. She just wanted to sleep, to forget what happened. She gazed at his chest, thinking that perhaps they could do some other things to get her mind off of what happened.

"You couldn't get your staff," he said. She looked at him, startled from her thoughts. "You've wanted one for a long time, haven't you?"

"Yes… it's alright. I've waited this long," she laughed, turning to him. "It's not like I'll be using it anyways…"

"You can still be a magician," he said. "You just won't be performing for any courts. I like it better that way. I wouldn't like it if some bastard was staring at my wife. You can perform for me."

She took her hand and placed it on his chest, touching him there. "I'm not a dancing girl," she told him, the same thing she told him so long ago. He just chuckled while he played with her hair. He kept staring at her, not with lust or love but with concern and it annoyed her. More so the fact because he knew she wasn't alright, she knew that because whenever she just idly stare the images of the skeletons kept appearing and it made her heart jump every time. She sat up, holding herself as she looked down at her body. Taking hold of her sleeves, she began to slip them off until her dress fell at her waist, leaving Bakura to stare at her for a long while before he sat up, placing a hand on her bare arm, spreading the comfortable warmth within her. Getting a taste of that warmth made her hungry for more. She craved for him, his warmth, his touch…everything.

Taking his hand, she moved it over to her left breast as if he only could calm her beating heart. For a while, Bakura did nothing, searching her eyes before he gripped her breast and leaned over to kiss her rather passionately. Fluttering her lashes, she sighed into his kiss and deepened it hungrily only for him to grab her arms and slam her into the sheets, climbing over her, never breaking their kiss. She cupped his face in her head, pulling away to breathe on him while he reached a hand through her dress to touch her legs, making her blush. He slipped his hand out to unable himself to pull her underwear and dress off, throwing them aside while he grabbed her ankles and forcefully pulled her down until she was right over his covered self that she could faintly feel from beneath. Giggling, she covered her face, ignoring the images of the skeletons when Bakura kissed her leg, once, twice, multiple times until he got higher to her inner thigh where he kissed. Seductively, licking her leg before he moved over her, reaching one hand to grip her hair rather roughly while the other went to undo his sash, he kissed her as she placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning upwards to kiss his nose, lips, chin and neck.

She slid her hands down to remove his shendyt and sash for him, moving them to the side of the sheets. Despite all their romantic nights together, she still wasn't quite used to his nude form, it always made her blush so she focused her attention to his sharp blue eyes, brushing his bangs aside as she leaned over and kissed his nose.

They hadn't truly started and yet the worries and fears of the crevice had been chased away. All she could see now were stars and sparks, feeling the warmth of his love spreading throughout her body. It was with him that she felt safe and secure, like there was nothing in the world that could hurt her. She loved him so much. Giggling, she caressed his face.

* * *

"Which one you like better?" he asked, moving a hand over to brush through her hair. She wanted to know what he liked it, and he must've figured that because he answered. "I like the other one. You have a better reaction from it and something about the position is rather…" he licked his lips which made her blush furiously, "Delectable."

"I like when you're over me," she quickly answered, hiding her face in his chest. He lifted her chin with his hand and searched her eyes, "I like seeing your eyes…" she moved her fingers over to his face, brushing it gently over his eyelids to emphasize her point. He took her hand and kissed it. "You're always so warm," she said tiredly, suddenly very sleepy. She was enjoying the warmth of his hand clasped over hers.

He chuckled. "Really?"

She couldn't respond as she nodded off to sleep after that. But her dreams were haunted by the dancing skeletons that laughed and mocked her. The chimera was there too, sucking her into a vortex of darkness where she saw Zorc, reaching a hand to her. She awoke in sweat, breathing hard. Bakura was asleep with his arm over her waist. She tried to calm herself but she couldn't. The images still haunted her. She gulped and thought about waking Bakura but decided against it. She slowly moved his arm off her and got up, picking up one of his robes and wrapping it tightly around herself except it hung loosely around her body. She quietly left the room.

She placed a hand on her head, shivering. "Come on, Meskhenet, you're alright. Nothing happened…" but something had happened, she just didn't know what. She went to her study and lit a candle. She'd just read tonight and tomorrow she would go and see Zaim—no, he needed rest. She would just figure something out to distract her. She desperately wished she had her sheep.

She picked up a book on ancient tombs, she had already read this—actually, she already read all the books in her small study but there were the only books she had so she would just have to re-read them. She flipped the book open to a random page and a separate piece of paper fell out. She picked it up and looked at it. Oh, it was her pregnancy notes she had jotted down after Anya found out she was pregnant. She pulled out a different book and placed the notes in there. She hoped no one found that paper, it was embarrassing to have. She returned the second book to the shelf then turned to walk to her desk, but she stopped when she saw what was on it.

The black bounded book Zaim had taken from her was on her desk. She looked around uncertainly then looked at her window. Her heart pounded loudly in fear and she hesitantly went to the window. She looked around but no one was there, she turned back to the book. How had it got here? It just had magically appeared just like it had in her hand when she left the crevice? She walked over to the book and she could swear she heard whisperings like something was beckoning her forward. She touched the book. It was cold and it sent her body into uncontrollable shivers. She retracted her hand quickly.

Did Bakura take it from Zaim before they parted ways? No, she would have noticed when they were walking home. Bakura had been with her the entire time. She picked up the book, the whisperings grew louder and her breathing quickened. She darted her eyes around the small study expecting a skeleton or skull to appear but nothing did. The whisperings didn't stop though. She threw the book out the window then quickly left the study, returning to her room with the tomb book in her hands. She looked back as if the book was following her. She didn't want to see that book. She went to take her place next to Bakura, unconsciously hugging the tomb book.

She lied there awake until Bakura had woken up. It wasn't morning, it was still night. He looked at her, blinking. She remembered when he was a child, he couldn't sleep because of his nightmares and even during their wedding night, he had one too but he had asked her not to ask about them despite her being curious about if his dreams only consisted of the destruction of his village. She gave him a small smile, but he was merely staring at her.

"You look frighten," he observed, probably because she was shaking.

"Um…"

"You had a nightmare," it wasn't a question but a statement. She hesitated but nodded, and he hugged her, moving his nude body closer to her. Despite his warmth, she was still shivering and her heart was still pounding. "Whatever happened down there wasn't real."

"You don't know… what happened down there…" she shivered.

"You said something about the skeletons," he replied, and she knew he thought she was crazy. "They weren't moving, Khenet."

"So I'm crazy?" she wanted to get mad but her words sounded more scared. He stroked her hair and hugged her tighter.

"No, that man in the hood. I think he did something to you, made you see some illusions," ah, that was probably it, at least that's what she kept telling herself. Yes, Ata was messing with her mind, trying to drive her crazy. This was better though, wasn't it? He wouldn't bother Bakura so long as he was after her… "If I see him again, I'm going to kill him."

She knew killing was wrong. Taking another life was bad, but for some reason that made her feel a little better and it kind of made her worry. Why was she happy that Bakura would say such a thing? Because she wanted Ata dead… but she didn't want Bakura dirtying his hands for some scum like Ata.

"Thanks," she kissed him on the mouth, and he placed his forehead against hers.

"Try and get some sleep," but she shook her head. He took the book from her and looked at it, handing it back to her. "Then read that to me."

"It's nothing exciting…"

"Just read it."

She cracked open the book and began to read.

The next morning, she woke up, stretching and hugging the robe close to her body that was covered in bruises and bites. Not very long after starting to read the book, Bakura got bored and instead asked if he could 'ravish' her, as he put it to which she said yes. His lovemaking was intense and passionate but also very animalistic. Besides the bruises, he hadn't hurt her too much.

It was morning now, and Bakura was getting dressed, tying his shendyt over his form. Still as stupid as it was, she couldn't look at him directly naked without blushing like crazy. She wished she could because she liked his body. He had a very nice body with his many scars and wiry muscles. She turned her head away and looked for the book she had been reading. She couldn't find it anywhere. Did Bakura put it back? Ra, her hand hurt. She shook and rubbed it, flexing them to get some movement into them. It felt like she had been holding a reed pen all night.

He noticed her, smirking as he got on his knees in front of her. "Morning," he said and kissed her passionately, placing a hand behind her neck to keep her from moving while one hand traveled to her waist. Her heart thudded loudly as she crawled closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body right up against his which made him give her a devilish grin.

"Um… did something happen?" she asked after he broke away from their passionate kiss. She realized she hadn't had a nightmare and that made her happy, but why was he happy? Instead of answering her, he brought her in for another long kiss, sliding his hands down to her hips.

Oh, Ra! Her breath was being sucked out from her, she couldn't breathe! She pushed him away and squirmed away from his grip. "It's the day you were born," he said, pulling her to her feet. She laughed. Was it? No, that wasn't right; it should've been two days before that. Was he getting confused? She shook her head. "You're sixteen now."

"Bakura, my birth day is not until two days," he raised an eyebrow at her, but she just laughed. "Thank you for remembering it though…" the thought alone made her feel warm and tingly inside.

"Today is the nineteenth day of _Wep-Renpet,_ " he said. What? He must have been joking. It should have been the seventeenth. She shook her head. "You are mistaken, Khenet."

"No, it's the seventeenth, we came back on the sixteenth and—and," he was staring at her, worriedly. "What?"

"What did we do yesterday?" why was he asking her that? He should've known.

"I read you the book of ancient tombs after I woke up from a nightmare," she answered, twisting her fingers, "And we had sex…really, really amazing sex…" he placed his hand on her head, and she wondered why. "W—why?"

"What did we do last night?" he asked. She looked at him annoyed. She just answered that. She continued to repeat her previous answer, but he shook his head. "We went out to the Nile last night to bathe. We came home and talked and then you fell asleep and the next time I woke up you were in your study, writing like a mad woman. You read me that boring book two days ago. Do you not remember anything from the last two days?"

What? What was he talking about? Did she just forget two days of her life? "No… that can't be!" frantically, she looked around for a dress and quickly slipped it on, neglecting to put her underwear on then she was about to run out of the house, but Bakura grabbed her and pulled her to her study to show her the desk which had the chair pulled back and a ink and reed pen messily lying next to the black book which was opened and filled with writings of her handwriting. That's why her hand hurt…she was writing last night but…she remembered nothing. What was this? Her insides felt cold like they were twisting into a puddle of metal, quickly, she ran out of the house while he called out to her. She went to the nearest person and asked them the day but they too said the same thing Bakura did. They congratulated her on her birth day. She was confused? What happened? Why didn't she remember anything? Bakura came over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She turned around to him, frightened. She gripped his tunic in her hands. "W—what's wrong with me? Why can't I remember?"

"Calm down," he said, but she couldn't! She just forgotten two days of her life and she didn't know why! Was she ill? She didn't know any illnesses that made one forget like that! Did Ata place a curse on her? "You're probably tired and exhausted from the events of two days ago. You'll probably remember when you get some more rest."

That sounded logically… mouth dry; she nodded and held herself, frightened still. She hoped he was right.

They spent the day together, but at times she would space out, thinking back on the skeletons, the creature known as Zorc and Ata. Bakura did his best to cheer her up but she couldn't get those damn things out of her head. She couldn't remember the rest of the day; sometimes she vaguely remembered writing notes in a black book or writing something on the floor and walls of her study. They felt like dreams though, when she did come back to her senses fully. She was in the middle of having sex with Bakura. She didn't remember how in Ammit's name that had happened and despite knowing that she wasn't asleep when this was happening, she couldn't help but scream, not from pain but from the mere shock as her body was taken over by shakes and shivers, from fear. Bakura seemed surprised by that as he stopped.

"Get out! Get out!" she cried, wiggling in his grasp as she wept, the tears flowing out. "Bakura, get out!" When that was over, he dressed himself, she closed her legs and rolled to the side, weeping hard into her sheets.

"Khenet?" he asked, hugging her from behind, trying to control her body from shivering, but he couldn't. What was wrong with her? Her hand was aching badly. She wanted to ask, but was too frightened to. As if reading her mind, he kissed her on the cheek and talked near her ear. "You were writing again. I tried to pull you away, but you wouldn't so I initiated this…you wanted it. You said it'd get your mind off things."

She didn't think he was lying. She probably would've said that, but the thing was, she didn't remember, she couldn't remember writing either just brief glimpses or flashes. Even sex couldn't pull her from this, what was wrong with her? Slowly, she turned to him, taking in a shaky breath. She needed to know something though, "What is today?" she asked in a quiet voice. He didn't respond, "Bakura…when did we go shopping for my birthday?"

"Four days ago," he responded. She covered her mouth and wept, "I left two days ago to a tomb and I came back…you were in your study writing in that damn book." She shook her head as she started to hyperventilate. No, she didn't remember the last four days; only her birthday…she was missing parts of her life. What did Ata do to her? She sat up, breathing inconsistently as she tried calming herself, Bakura was holding her as he rubbed her back.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked, crying.

"We can figure it out in the morning," he told her. "For now, you need rest." He tried to push her to lie down, but she whimpered and resisted, thinking that if she slept, she'd just go to her study and do it all over again…he left for two days and she was writing, but when he was with her, he could keep an eye on her. She gripped his biceps and leaned near him.

"Don't let me..." she didn't finish.

"I won't let you go," he told her. Nodding, she scooted down in the sheets, staring at the ceiling.

* * *

The next morning, she woke up before he did, blinking and wondering if she had gone and wrote in the book again, but she saw the state of the sheets. She hadn't gone to write, he hadn't let her go. It was still the next morning. It made her sigh in relief as she slowly moved his arms off her and tried to move away. However, his hands came over her breasts, squeezing them lightly as he pulled her body closer to his again.

"I have to go," she told him, not explaining where. He groped her harder without a word and kissed her back, gliding one hand down to between her legs as if insinuating for sex. She wiggled in his grasp, not wanting to continue anything since they already had sex before. "Bakura," she whined, removing his hand and scooting herself away from him. He propped his head on his hand and stared at her. She brushed her hair over her head and held herself. "Thanks." Without waiting a response, she leaned over him to kiss him before dressing herself.

He grabbed her hand, but she looked at him distantly. "What's wrong?"

"I'm going to see a doctor…" she told him. He didn't look like he approved, as of now, she didn't care. She needed to find out what was wrong with her. "Bakura… I'm having lapses in my memories. I don't remember some of the days after the crevice and yesterday I only remember half of it. When I came to, we were having… but I don't… I didn't—don't remember how it happened or why it happened?" she was beginning to doubt her own sanity. Bakura looked at her then got up. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Let's go see the doctor."

They headed to the busy man who looked a little frightened when he saw Bakura. He merely laughed it off and apologized, asking why they were there. She explained to him about her conditions or symptoms and the doctor frowned. He suggested she talked to the healer instead since he suspected it had something to do with magic and he knew nothing of magic. Luckily, the healer and doctor worked in the same little building.

Meskhenet waited in the small doctor clinic on a hard bed, swinging her legs as she drummed her fingers on the edge. Bakura sat next to her, looking at his hands. The old healer finally came in, and she stood up only for him to signal her to sit back down. He looked at Bakura disapprovingly but said nothing to him. Like usual, she knew most of the town was familiar with Bakura's work or found him untrusting. They disapproved like Zaim.

"You're sixteen now," he said in a raspy voice like he had been inhaling smoke. She gave a small smile and nodded. He nodded too. "So Hasan tells me you are having memory issues?"

"Yes… I can't seem to remember things, it's not little things either, it's complete days an—and there's this book, I keep writing. I don't know what…I've been too frightened to look. I don't know what's wrong. Ever since we were attacked by Ata I feel like I'm losing my mind…" she said honestly. The old healer nodded then walked over to her. He placed a hand on her forehead and she felt something in the presence of her mind. It was somehow disturbing, but at the same time very subtle so she didn't feel anything. After a long moment, the old healer removed his hand.

"Hmm," he thought but he shook his head. "You must go see Master Zaim." Well, that was the very reason she was here so she wouldn't have to see Zaim. He needed rest. "A curse has been placed on you. I cannot determine the nature of this curse, but it was placed using strong dark magic."

"So what's going to happen?" Bakura asked for her. The old healer looked at Bakura a little annoyed like he didn't like his presence. "Is she going to be alright?"

"The curse is not life threatening, that much I can say. But the purpose of it is muddled," the old healer stroked his beard. "You are Master Zaim's apprentice, yes? It is rather odd that you came to me instead of him…"

"Ah," she didn't really want to get into details so she stood up and bowed a little. "Thank you." The old healer nodded and left. She and Bakura exited the doctor's clinic and she frowned. A curse had been placed on her? Was that what all the skeletons were about? What did Ata hope to gain by placing a curse on her? The skull had said something about darkness within her… and Bakura too. She thought of her ka's appearance, how dark it was, how dreary it looked, was that her darkness manifested?

She turned to Bakura. "Um, you can go and do something else. Raid a tomb or-or…" he was just looking at her. She looked down at her hands. "I'm going to head over to Master Zaim's house." He placed a hand on her head, but she looked up and smiled. "I'll be alright." She didn't really think she would but she didn't really want him involved. This was magic; this was the price she had to pay for wanting to join that world. He didn't need to get involved. He hesitated, gave her a deep kiss on the lips then left. She went on her way to Zaim's house.

Zaim's house was passed the marketplace, way down past the blacksmith's house and towards the edge of town. It was a little bigger than her house with its own private stables and ranch for the horses to run around. Its windows were a lot smaller than her house's and was raised higher with either on the side of the front; the wooden door looked brand new like it had been just inputted. She knocked on the door and Nakia opened it, looking a little surprised. She smiled at Meskhenet.

"Morning," she stopped smiling when she saw Meskhenet's averted gaze. "Is something the matter?"

"Ah, I wanted to speak with Master Zaim," Nakia looked uncertain but she stepped aside and Meskhenet entered their house. The entryway led inside with a dining room to the left (that was perpendicular to the kitchen) and a sitting room to the right. Straight ahead, it led to a short hall that intersected with four rooms, one was closed and the other three were bedrooms. Nakia gestured her to follow and she led her down to the room at the far right. It was furnished with one bookshelf, containing books on many subjects, a small side table was next to the plain bed and there was a rug on the ground. Zaim sat up in the bed, reading to Issar something about the history of the Berber Tribes. She thought that was a rather odd topic to be telling a child. Nakia knocked on the open door, and Zaim looked at her.

"Meskhenet would like to speak with you," said Nakia. Zaim frowned but he closed the book and told Issar something. Nakia held out her hand and Issar got down from the bed and took her hand. "Why don't we help your mom to cook?" Issar saw Meskhenet and shyly waved. She squatted down and patted his head before he left with Nakia.

"What is it?" Zaim asked tiredly as he lay back down. Meskhenet approached him. He looked a little pale and sick; she wondered if he was alright. He saw her worry and smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine. Volcanic Wings took a lot of damage during my fight but with enough rest, he'll be alright—I'll be alright. What's wrong?"

"How did Ata and his followers get so strong?" Meskhenet asked quietly. That woman, Chione, was able to control the weather and Ata's ka was stronger than Zaim's but Zaim was one of the best magicians out there and yet Ata was stronger. She wanted to be that strong…to protect herself and Bakura, to prevent herself from ever being attacked again.

Zaim frowned. "Ah… it's a little hard to say this… but it's because he and his followers use dark magic." She looked up at him. Was he saying dark magic was stronger? But if darkness was weak, how was dark magic strong? She didn't understand. "Meskhenet, dark magic is a disease, a parasite. It will give its host an illness but it will reside in the body. It may seem like power, but it slowly kills the host. Dark magic is stronger because a higher price is at stake."

"Just like oracles?" she asked, remembering what he once told her of oracles long ago. They were magicians who took the form of prophecy to the next levels, sacrificing apart of themselves for more people. Generally, they were looked down upon and people would close their ears from the words of oracles, but there were times when the pharaoh and even Egypt needed such powers which was why the Court of Magicians never turned away an oracle.

He nodded. "Yes, they pay a heavy price to use that type of magic. Magicians can become quite powerful without resorting to darkness, but we may always seem weaker because of our moral values. Without morals, there is nothing holding us back and that makes the more dangerous magician and even human. Now I know you didn't come here to ask about Ata, what is it?"

"Is resurrection possible?" she asked suddenly without even thinking about it. No! That wasn't what she wanted to ask! She instantly covered her mouth and blinked at Zaim who looked quite older now and very tired. The words she had been writing in the book…they flooded her mind as she started remembering excerpts and passages of what she wrote. What made the human body work, what the human body was made of and spells she was unfamiliar with. No…was she writing a resurrection spell?

Zaim seemed shocked at her question but it slowly turned to anger. "Who told you that?!" She just looked at him distantly. "No! Meskhenet, resurrection is not possible! Don't ever speak about that nonsense ever again!"

"O-oh, I'm sorry," she said distantly. If resurrection wasn't possible then why was he getting so worked up on it? He was hiding something. And the black book was the key to it all, wasn't it? It was the same book Ata must've used during his research. She needed to see it. She felt compelled too. "Ah, I went to see the healer, he uh… said I should come see you."

Zaim still looked angry but he asked, "For what?"

"He said a curse was placed on me," she laughed hollowly. She felt sick but empty.

"What curse?"

"Ata placed a curse on me. I cannot remember things and I blank out often," she omitted the fact of her writing the book. She shivered, holding herself and averting her gaze from him. Zaim gave a worry look and gestured for her to sit on the bed. She did, but she couldn't stop herself from shaking. She started to remember the creature and the skeletons and Ata's sinister smile. "What does he want with me? I don't want anything to do with him!"

"Calm down, Meskhenet," Zaim said. He raised a hand to her forehead and he too touched it. Again, she felt a presence in her mind but it was very calming and fleeting. Zaim removed his hand, looking more worn out than before. Oh, no, she must have made him use magic. "Hmm, what else is this curse doing to you?"

"I keep having nightmares," she answered quickly. He gave her a look.

"Anything else? Are you doing anything odd? Compelled to without a will? It could be anything really…" he was prying as if he knew what she was hiding, and it made her scared.

Her mouth was dry and she was sweating. She didn't want to tell him about the book without looking at it first. "Um…I go to my study sometimes I think…I don't really know."

"It isn't so much of a curse as it is a mind control spell like hypnosis. He is trying to take control of you but your magic or will is preventing him from doing so. Instead of being under his complete control you wake up at random moments in your life. Your will is battling his magic." For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to talk to him about what she saw in the crevice, what Ata was trying to do. She kept it to herself, listening intently to his every word.

"What does this all mean?"

"Dark magic…" he seemed lost in thought. "I do not know what he wishes to do with you or what he has planned, but we must remove this curse as soon as possible. However, I am in no state to do such a thing right now.

"What will happen to me?"

"Whatever is happening now will continue and if worse comes to worse…you may become his puppet."

Her heart froze at those words. He was using her to continue his work. For some reason, something prevented him from doing so and now he had found someone to finish it. Her. She didn't want to help him, but her curiosity got the best of her. She stood up without asking when Zaim could remove the curse, she gave an awkward bow before he called her and she stopped.

"I will lift the spell when I have more rest… after that, your memories and everything should go back to normal." He frowned as she nodded curtly to him and left.

* * *

Author's Note: I had to do a lot of edits on this chapter and it still is my least favorite. At times I find this chapter pointless but it plays a role down the line in the story so it's needed even though something about it makes me not like it. Anyway, Egyptian calendars are hard to align with ours so Meskhenet's estimated birthday in our calendar is August 9th I think so she's actually two months older than Bakura who I believe's birthday is October 25th, however in Egyptian Calendar, Bakura is born the 15th of Menhet which is before Wep-renpet and is considered 10 months older than Meskhenet. Lol, it's confusing.


	32. Chapter XXXII: The Oracle

Chapter XXXII: The Oracle

Bakura took her to the thief town (that's what she was going to call it) the next day. Earlier that day, she had aimlessly searched her whole house for the black book, but to her horror Bakura told her he hid it to keep her away. When she asked for it, he got mad at her and they had an argument. She wished she could say it ended up in heated passion and amazing make up sex but it didn't, rather things were thrown at one another and eventually she ran off and broke down at the Nile only for him to fetch her and take her to town. It was sunset now and they were heading over to a bar. She didn't really care about drinking, but Bakura wanted to go there and she decided she'd tag along. Wine wouldn't help her situation, but it was at least a distraction and she needed a distraction.

The bar was rather large and filled with many people, mostly men. There was a counter at the far right corner with some stools positioned below, the bartender stood there with a lot of different jars, jugs, bottles and pots filled with an assortment of wines and beers. There were tables and chairs throughout the bar but Bakura took her to the counter and ordered some wine. The bartender smiled at Meskhenet who gave him a small smile in return. He looked middle aged and wore a red robe with a dark red sash and plain white tunic underneath; he had a white turban on his head. He handed them two cups and a bottle of wine, pouring it into their cups. Bakura handed her one.

She looked at it. It was a dark color and had a fruity smell. Ah, what was she doing? She didn't like wine. She didn't like drinking, not after what happened when they were children. She hadn't drunk at her feast or at Zaim and Skylar's, what was she doing now? Right, trying to forget those damn dark things…like she did when she saw him kissing another girl, a bitter taste filled her mouth as she frowned at her drink.

Bakura hadn't touched his either, he was absentmindedly stroking the rim of his cup. He looked at her and smiled a taunting smile. "Let's say we play a game."

"What game?" she asked as she placed her cup down onto the counter. He took out his pouch of gold coins and placed it on the counter. He looked around.

"First we need to even the odds," he nodded towards some man at a table, talking to three other men. She looked at them then at Bakura, wondering what he was thinking. She raised an eyebrow. "Let's see how good you are at stealing."

"What?" she asked incredulously. Was he asking her to rob that man? She wasn't going to do that. That was his job.

"It's part of the game," he told her. She hadn't actually conceded to the game. "You want to know how it's done, yes?"

"Stealing?" she whispered, and he nodded. "No. I don't know how to be a thief and I'm not going to steal!"

"You see everyone here?" he nodded to the entire bar, and she looked around the room. "They're all thieves. He probably stole his pouch of gold from someone else. You're not hurting him and I'm sure you can put that gold to better use."

She looked at the man. "What if I get caught?"

"He's too drunk to notice anything."

She didn't really want to steal, but a part of her was curious of why he stole. Was it the thrill of possibly getting caught or the guilt of stealing? No, Bakura didn't have any guilt for stealing. It was second nature to him. "What do I do?"

"You've always been good at distraction; use that to your advantage." He was smiling at her, almost mockingly. She looked at him uncertainly. Was that advice? It was horrible. "If he tries anything, I'll come to your rescue. Go." Why did he always think she needed rescuing? Sure, she considered him her warm fire and her safe place, but it kind of felt like he was saying she was a damsel.

She looked at the man then at Bakura. She sighed and went over to the man, but someone backed up their chair and her foot got caught in the leg of the chair and she fell, bumping right into the man on his chair. His drink spilled all over his tunic and she quickly stood up. _Ahh! This was a bad idea!_ She looked back at Bakura, but he was merely watching her, looking like he was trying hard to hold back his laugh. Her heart pounded in her chest as the man stood up angrily. She maneuvered around him, quickly taking his pouch, hiding it behind her.

"I am so sorry!" she said. It wasn't a lie. She hadn't intended to anger him or spill his drink. She wiped his tunic a bit with her hand to no effect, the other three men chuckled and one of them was staring at her oddly. She didn't like his stare. "I am so, so sorry!" The man grunted angrily and turned to her, looking like he wanted to hit her for ruining is happy hour. She laughed nervously. Ah, what was she going to do? She looked at his tunic and his cup. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Bakura slowly getting up. No, no, she didn't need any rescuing. She was tired of being weak. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, "Let me fix that for you!" she used magic and the man's tunic was stark clean again. She then refilled his cup with the flick of her wrist and his cup gradually filled with more wine out of nowhere. The man was too busy looking at his tunic in astonishment, but his friends saw her work of the wine and seemed rather surprised.

"Was that magic?" one of the three men asked to another.

She quickly handed the man his cup and gave him a nervous smile. He laughed, drunk. "No harm done, Miss, just makes sure to be more careful." She bowed apologetically.

"Of course," she quickly walked back to Bakura while the men were talking and laughing at their friend. Bakura was smirking at her; she quickly placed the gold pouch down onto the table and sat down on the stool, breathing in and out with a hand on her chest. Her heart was pounding loudly. Why everything Bakura did was so heart pounding? Tomb raiding, stealing, how did he ever get used to such things?

"That was a bit amateur, but good," he said, chuckling.

"I'm so sorry I am not as good as you, oh Master Thief!" she mockingly bowed while sitting. He looked at the pouch she had stolen. He gave her some of his coins so the pouches were about even then scooted the pouch closer to her. "Is that how you steal?"

"Never," he told her, but didn't elaborate.

"Then what?"

"You never let yourself be caught, that's the rule and if you are caught, your best bet is to run. There are all kinds of methods. However, one fact does remain: men steal differently than women," he replied. He moved her cup in front of her and positioned his quite the same, making sure their pouches were even with gold.

She couldn't imagine all the ways of stealing, if there were multiples ways of stealing. She assumed there were multiple _places_ to be stolen from, but as far as methods go, she was clueless. "Elaborate for me, please?" she asked, a bit curious.

He gave her a sideways glance before propping an arm on the counter. "Children usually pretend to harmlessly run into you until they are a safe ways away do you realize they've taken your knife, your gold, your jewelry. Men steal when no one's looking, when people are drunk, perhaps a little sweet talk a woman's way or better yet we rob houses, tombs, places where wealth is vastly accumulated. Women," he looked her over while pausing for effect, she merely looked around, not really liking his gaze, "Women steal a lot more easily than children and men. They're female to begin with so most people assume their innocent, harmless, they usually use sex and their looks to get what they want."

"Then why not become a prostitute?" she shook her head. She didn't know how low people would go just to get what they want. To give one's body away for some gold seemed rather stupid to her, then again, the whole idea of stealing seemed rather silly to her.

"Prostitution comes with rules whereas stealing, no one dictates what you can or can't do. Female thieves aim for men, they flirt, they touch, maybe get taken home where more treasure lies."

"And men fall for that?"

"Of course," he grinned at her. The world was an such a conventional place, why would someone fall for someone else who would just flutter their lashes and speak sweet words for a brief moment? Men were stupid. "There's only one thing that runs through a man's mind when he finds himself with a pretty woman."

"Don't say it…"

"How do I get her out of those clothes and into bed?"

She put a hand over her face, ashamed to believe men were all dogs. Her father wasn't like that, Mahad either and definitely not Zaim, if he caught a thief of any kind he'd probably burn them alive for even crossing him. She sighed and looked at Bakura, crossing her arms as she stared at him. "Is that what you thought?"

"What?" he asked, seemingly a little lost in what she was asking.

"About the clothes and bed…is that what you were thinking before?"

He gave her a fake offended look, moving slightly back, "I admit you were attractive when I saw you again, but the thought didn't occur." She wasn't sure if she was supposed to be offended by that or not. "You were my childhood friend that I just reunited with. I was still looking at you as that ten year old."

She bit her lip and looked around shyly, "And what about…when the feelings started coming in?"

He laughed, "Well, does it matter now? I've taken you to bed plenty of times now."

Embarrassed, she quickly took her pouch and brought it near her, trying to change the subject. "So was that the game? Having I to steal?"

"No," he said, "Here's the game: we each place two coins in the middle and we have to make a statement in rotating turns. If one of us thinks the other is lying, we call them out. If we guess correctly, the other has to drink and place two more coins into the pile. If we guess wrong, then we have to drink and place two more coins. Simple, yes?"

She laughed. "What kind of game is this?"

"The loser is the one with no more gold in their pouch and the winner takes it all," he smiled.

"Oh, so you're trying to take the prize that I worked so clumsily to get," she narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine, I'll play your game."

"Then you go first," he placed two coins in between them and raised his cup to her. She did the same and thought for a moment.

"I used to have a dog when I was young," she smiled at him. He looked at her for a moment.

"You're lying," he said as she giggled.

"No," she replied. He frowned. He wasn't the only one with a secret background. "Pay up." He placed two coins in the pile and took a sip of his cup.

"You had a dog?" he asked like he thought she was lying.

"Yes, my brother had a saluki named Hunter," she said. Bakura was staring at her like he didn't exactly believe her. "Hunter left with my brother to Thebes. He probably died sometime there. I've never really been fond of anything but sheep and as much as I loved Hunter, he was a dog so I never really talk about him."

"Hmm."

"It's your turn."

"I had a sister," he stated with an unreadable expression. She stared at him; trying to remember back what he said the day they wedded. He mentioned his family and he told her…he had no siblings! He said he played with the other village children.

"Lie," she replied smugly. He took a sip of his drink and placed two more coins in the middle. "I started learning magic at the age of six."

"Lie," he said instantly.

"What?" she exclaimed surprised. "How'd you know?" She placed two coins in the pile and she took a sip of the wine. It was bittersweet but fruity.

"You were a horrible magician when I met you," he said. "You barely knew any spells and besides, you would have to have been learning to read around the age of six, yes? Your father told me he hired Zaim when you were five only for you to start learning to read before you actually started practicing magic."

She was shocked! When did her father tell him that and why? Probably during their secret conversations…She looked at the pile of gold and wondered who was going to win. "Fine. You caught me. Your move."

"The first thing I ever stole was a horse," he said. She doubted that. If there was anything to be stolen, it would be food or gold for food.

"Lie."

"Hah! Drink,"

"What? Why would you steal a horse?" she took sip of her drink and placed two more gold coins from her pouch and he did the same.

"I was young and stupid, but this was way back before I actually became a thief," he said. He tricked her! He was laughing at her as she pouted. She wondered why he stole the horse, if this was before he was a thief then that must have meant it was back before his village was destroyed, she thought.

"Why did you steal the horse?" she gasped, "Is it Kek?"

"No," he said, swirling his wine in his cup, "My friends dared me to take the horse from the old goatherd. I wanted to show them I could do it." Peer pressure? He was such a reserved child back then, she doubted he would try and show off.

She wondered if she should lie or tell the truth. They both were about even… hmm, "When I was a little girl I wanted to marry the Pharaoh." She struck a nerve there, Bakura looked angry at her comment, but he thought for a moment. She hoped she hadn't upset him too much.

"Lie," he said after sometime. "You said you didn't want to be queen."

She placed two more coins and took a sip of her drink. Damn, she was really hoping he would have fallen for that one. She swirled the wine in her cup, mimicking him and giggled. Ah, the drink was probably beginning to take an effect on her.

"Zaabit trained me how to use a sword," he said. Zaabit? Who was that again? Her mind felt a little hazy but the image of the larcenist from years ago came to her mind. Oh, that was Zaabit.

"Ah… um, lie?" she said uncertainly.

"Pay up," he said. When had Zaabit taught him how to use a sword? Sometime between the five years probably… but then Bakura betrayed him and killed him? She didn't really know. She took a large gulp of her wine and placed two more coins into the pile. She laughed but covered her mouth and giggled. Bakura raised an eyebrow at her in amusement but that just made her giggle even more.

"Uh… um, Mahad was my first love," she said. She didn't really know what she was saying but she was going on from her previous lie she had told him months ago.

"Lie," he smiled, and she took another sip of her drink. Damn, she was really bad at this. She felt warm and fuzzy inside and her brain felt numb. "I am your first love." Oh, he was so cocky sometimes! She laughed as she shakily placed two more coins in the pile. "I stole Kek."

"Kek?"

"Yes, my horse."

She thought for a moment. Did he steal Kek? She wasn't sure. She had never asked. He had gone to the trouble to make sure Kek was taken care of and had even went to get him back when they first met again. "Lie, you bought Kek."

He smiled and took a sip of his wine then placed two coins in the pile. Their pile was growing bigger. "I really thought you were going to fall for that."

"Why?" she asked, giggling. "I don't assume you steal everything." He caressed her face. She moved his hand away from her, laughing and blushing. "Um, I… like apples!"

"Truth," he said instantly, "And every other fruit."

She laughed as she finished her cup of wine. She took two more coins from her pouch and Bakura refilled her cup as she laughed. She felt giddy and her head kind of hurt, but she felt happy. She didn't know from where but she heard singing and the laughter of the bar filled the air. Bakura was chuckling at her. She was staring at his eyes. He looked more attractive than usual, she leaned over and kissed him but he lightly moved her away and laughed.

"I fell in a well and got trapped there when I was a kid," he smiled. She laughed. What was it about a well? She couldn't clearly remember.

"Um…," she couldn't process what he had just said to her. "Truth?"

He smirked at her and took a sip of his drink, finishing it in one big gulp. He refilled his cup then took two coins out from his pouch and placed it in the middle. She giggled. She couldn't comprehend anything anymore. Everything was swirling, dancing and singing. What was going on?

"Your turn," he said when she made no effort to go on.

She blinked. Her senses numb as one thought suddenly occurred to her mind. "Resurrection is possible," she blurted out.

He gave her a surprised look, "What?"

It suddenly dawned on her of what she just said. No, no, why had she said that? Ah, no, she was getting confused. She placed a hand on her head and looked at her wine. The image of the black book popped in her mind and those words…all the words she had written coiled inside, forming sentences and spells. Oh! She downed the whole cup of wine. Bakura was staring at her. She snatched his cup and drank his portion of wine too. She tried to stand, but staggered backwards, hitting into someone behind her. Bakura grabbed her arm and steadied her, but she was swaying. She tried to say something but she couldn't remember what happened… what was wrong? She was playing a game… yes? She smiled as Bakura sat her back down on the stool.

He quickly placed the gold into his pouch and pocketed them both in his sash. He paid the bartender then took Meskhenet's hand and led her out the bar. She was cackling loudly as they exited the bar. He turned to her and she tried to kiss him. He moved her away, he looked worried, but Meskhenet just laughed.

"Come on, Bakura!" she grabbed his hand and tried to pull him somewhere. "We can go on another adventure! To Mn Nefer! To Thebes!" she laughed, however he held her back.

"We're going home," he led her towards his black stallion. She staggered next to him, laughing and singing.

* * *

Meskhenet woke up with a killer headache. She groaned as she turned to her side, placing a hand on her head. What happened? Oh, right, Bakura had taken her out to a bar and she had drunk until she was drunk. Ugh, why did she keep drinking wine if she always remembered how much it hurt later? She groaned and opened her eyes. She was in her room alone. She held her head and sulked in her room for quite some time until she heard her door open, she looked up and smiled but to her surprise Zaim was standing there, not Bakura.

"Oh…" she said. He looked worried as he came over to her and kneeled down in front of her. "Mo—morning, Master…" Shouldn't he have been resting? He looked a little better than before but not completely himself yet. He smiled softly at her.

"Morning," he replied. "I'm going to remove the curse… now." She suddenly felt really tired and then she realized he had put a sleeping spell on her. She yawned and drifted off to sleep.

 _"Look, Meskhenet!" Hakim pointed at a cloud in the shape of a dragon. He looked the same as he did the day he left with his soft red hair blowing in the wind. He smiled at her with his eyes closed. She was sitting next to him at the falls of the Nile, swaying her legs. She looked like her ten year old self. How odd… he should've been dead by then but he was there._

 _"Hakim, when are you going to come back?" she asked as she began to weave a blue lotus crown._

 _"What are you talking about? I am back," he laughed, patting her head. Suddenly, someone burst out of the water. She looked up. It was Bakura as she had first met him. He came over to them and sat next to her._

 _"Oh, Bakura!" she exclaimed as she threw her arms around him. Her brother giggled at her._

 _"What?" Bakura asked as she gave him the crown she had made. He touched the crown and blushed at her._

 _"Did you meet Hakim…?" she turned to her brother but he was gone and suddenly she was older and Bakura was too. He was staring up at the night sky and she too looked up at the sky. At the star that was her secret star with her brother and Bakura. Then Bakura disappeared in the wind and sand and Meskhenet was in darkness. She didn't like it, the darkness was cold._

 _The skull came floating around her, laughing. She held her head and tried to block out the skull. He went on and on about resurrection and she thought about her brother. Yes, it would be wonderful to see him again! He could live the life he never had, make up for all the years gone…she could have her family again._

 _"Meskhenet…" a voice said, and she turned around. The beast was there, and she cried out in fear. "I can give you power, but only if—"_

 _The beast didn't get to finish as a light broke through the darkness, blinding her. She squinted through the light and saw a man with long blonde hair in the distance, dressed in robes of white and blue and his staff had an hourglass on it and two floating orbs. She couldn't see him clearly but inside her she recognized him as a force of good. His presence was comforting to her. In a voice that echoed he told her something, however his words were nothing but loud echoes and before she could ask him again, she heard Zaim calling her name._

She opened her eyes and gasped, sitting up. Zaim looked fatigue and pale. He smiled at her. "How are you feeling?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and thought for a moment. What happened yesterday? She got drunk on wine while playing a game with Bakura. Earlier that day, she and Bakura had spent the entire night having sex then they went to the doctor then to Zaim. They had an argument…before that he had left to a tomb and she had spent her days with Gamilla and Mandisa for a brief while before…yes, she remembered now, whenever she got the chance to be alone she had been compelled to open the book and write stuff she didn't know down into it. Spells, research, everything she knew must've been from Ata's knowledge somehow she knew. Oh, yes, and the day of her birth day, Bakura had given her a new dress and took her out to eat.

Oh! She could remember! She hugged Zaim and he stiffened a bit. "Thank you! Thank you!" he awkwardly hugged her back but she let go of him and stood up. "Where's Bakura?"

Zaim sighed, he was still kneeling there. She realized he had come to remove the spell without fully resting. She placed her hands over her mouth and crouched down in front of him. He gave a weak smile. "I'm fine. What kind of magician would I be if I couldn't remove a simple curse like that?"

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize… Bakura was worried so he went to get me. He said to tell you he won't be back for a while. We can get your staff today if you'd like?" he offered, standing up a bit unsteadily.

"Um, I can wait until tomorrow. You need rest," he nodded and walked away. She went over to the Nile that day. She was glad that the spell had been lifted, her memories were coming back to her and that made her relief, but the images of the skull and skeletons haunted her. That beast was offering her power. She remembered when she was a child that Bakura had told her magic was all about power. Somehow that statement seemed very true now.

"Fear does not control you. You let fear control you, you let the darkness in, but darkness can't get to you if there is a light and there's always a light," she told herself very specifically. The skeletons and the skull were just her fears. She didn't want her fears to control her so she needed to be brave like how Bakura always was. She faced death traps in a tomb, she had been chased down by Apep the Snake Sorcerer and she had nearly lost Bakura to Zaabit. She faced so much more than some stupid imaginary skeletons! And that beast… power wasn't everything. She didn't need power. She had love.

She wondered who the blonde man was, but perhaps he was a manifestation of light to her? He had blonde hair like her ka, maybe he was just a part of a dream? Yes, that must've been it.

She spent the entire day, skipping stones to no success. A goat tugged on her dress and she yanked it away. The goatherd came to her and his herd of goats bleated at her. There were some kids and young males playing around the Nile. She greeted the goatherd who looked sad.

"What is wrong, sir?" she asked.

"News will arrive to town soon, but I just got word from a messenger. The Pharaoh has passed," said the goatherd. What?! She couldn't believe it, the Pharaoh had died? She remembered that the Pharaoh had been ill months ago, had he finally succumbed to his illness? But what did this mean to Egypt? What was going to happen?

"That is sad news," she said, unable to find many words to speak. The poor Prince and the Queen… they had been going through a lot and now this, just like her father. She felt a connection with the Prince and her heart cried for him. He was so young and so meek; he needed someone to look to for guidance in order to become pharaoh.

"I hope this does not mean the fall of Egypt's future," the goatherd said.

"I'm sure the Prince will be a great pharaoh," actually she wasn't sure. The Prince looked kind of like a cry baby, but she just said that to comfort the goatherd. He went on his business of taking care of his goats and she quickly left back to town. Apparently, they had gotten the news. Some of the people were talking and others wept for the passing of the pharaoh. Meskhenet didn't know exactly how to feel, but she felt sad. Her father had greatly admired the Pharaoh and now he too was gone.

The next day, Meskhenet and Zaim headed off to the Valley of the Queens. It took them nearly three days and by the time they got there, it was nightfall. The Court of Magicians was positioned in the middle of a closed off ravine, surrounded by canyons with a singular sloped path downward. It was a palace looking building with pillars surrounding the building in a circular way and large outside halls. Made from one stone, it stood hundreds of years old and yet it looked to be in perfect condition except for the mere fact it seemed deserted. It felt like a ghost place.

Meskhenet and Zaim left their horses in the care of a young man who took the horses to freshen up. Zaim led Meskhenet through the pillars and to some large and grand looking doors. The doors opened and the two entered. The inside was dark with some braziers dimly lit with withering fire. A man in a plain hooded robe came. He looked detached from emotion and had a cold gaze.

"Zaim, we have been expecting you," the man said. He sounded young but his voice was like his eyes, cold. "The Court would like to speak with you." He looked at Meskhenet, "Alone."

"Yes, I understand," Zaim nodded. He turned to Meskhenet. "I will go, but if you head on down to the left, you should find the staff maker." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Be careful…"

It was a rather odd warning but he left with the hooded man and Meskhenet stood in the darkness awkwardly. She wished Bakura was here. They could have talked or laughed about something, but he was not here and the silence was deafening. She walked to the left, being led by the lousy lighting of the braziers. She entered the outside courtyard. The moon looked beautiful tonight. She saw the brightest star and smiled to herself. A magician passed her by but said nothing. There were so little people here, it worried her. She used to think there were many magicians.

She walked through the courtyard and spotted a door. She opened the door, thinking it was the staff maker but to her surprise, it looked like a library of scrolls. There were many shelves, many books and so many scrolls! It was breathtaking to her, but the smell was literarily breathtaking. She coughed and a woman called.

"Ah, you are here," the woman said. Meskhenet froze as she wondered who had spoken. She looked around and saw an arch deeper in the room. It led to a plain room that had a door open. The room had many shorter shelves that were filled with tied up scrolls. There was a bed in the corner with a side table and candle lit atop. The bed was covered in white sheets and a woman was sitting upright in the bed. Her eyes were closed and her hair was pure white, long and flowing. She wore a keyhole white kalasiris. She was facing towards Meskhenet but her eyes were closed. "I have been expecting you."

Expecting? Meskhenet stared at the woman's eyelids. She was an oracle. Meskhenet shifted her gaze to the woman's legs. Bedridden perhaps as well as blind, it was a sad life for an oracle but they chose that life, to give up something of value for more power. "I am looking for the staff maker."

"Yes, I am aware. You took a turn too early, my dear, it was another door down," the oracle said, smiling. She didn't like being called 'my dear' it reminded her of that stupid skull. "You are a key element in the darkness that will engulf Egypt, but you are one of many pawns."

"Sorry?" Meskhenet asked. What was this about darkness over Egypt? Hadn't Bakura said that an oracle told him that too? Was this the same oracle? The words Ata said worried her too. He kept mentioning about the darkness and the Dark Lord rising. Despite everything with Ata, her mind kept coming to the fact Bakura said he had come to the Court of Magicians and that an oracle told him he would cause Egypt darkness. At that thought, Meskhenet began to seethe. If it was the same oracle, that lunatic woman had told a child the same thing she was basically telling Meskhenet. "You are an oracle. I do not trust your words."

"Ah, yes, because I am an oracle there lies doubt in your mind if I am truly trustworthy," the oracle chuckled. "Tell me, child, how is it that you trust a thief more than I?"

"Because a thief doesn't sacrifice his will to see and walk for powers that predict a future that may not happen," Meskhenet said a bit rudely.

"I see," technically, she didn't. She had no eyes. "Do you know why we oracles give up our worldly possessions for such power?"

"No, and I don't want to know…"

"You have no true ill will towards us, so tell me, child, why do you act in such a way?" the oracle didn't know her. Her real ill will towards them wasn't the fact that they stupidly gave up a heavy price to see the future but because of what that oracle said to Bakura when he was a child. She realized that it was rather judgmental of her to be labeling everyone the same as that one oracle, then again here was an oracle telling her the same thing. "You are upset because I told a boy some time ago about his future."

"Yes," Meskhenet answered honestly. So it really was the same oracle. "You only brought fear to him."

"Fear? Is that what I did?"

"You carelessly go about telling people their future as if they want to know. You make them fear what they would have treasured. You didn't offer him comfort after his village was destroyed, you offered him fear," Meskhenet said, balling her hands into fists as she glared at the eyeless woman.

The oracle laughed unkindly. "Fear is not the strongest emotion. Love is. Love drives people to do what is not right because they love, love themselves, love others. Tell me, child, why did Ata turn to the darkness?"

Meskhenet refused to believe that. Love was powerful because it drove people to the right path. It offered people comfort. "I must be going…" she said as she turned away.

"Heed my warning, child, darkness will come to Egypt and the Dark Lord will rise again," but Meskhenet walked away. The oracle could say what she wanted; the future had yet to be written. She would prove to the old lunatic that the future she saw was nothing but lies. Darkness could be vanquished.

She went over to the next door. The room was completely piled high with books and especially scrolls! She could see some shelves beyond the pile of scrolls but the floor, desks and everything was rolled in scrolls and papyrus. It had a smell of really old paper that was kind of suffocating. A little old man came hobbling through the many scrolls towards her; he must have been the staff maker. He was a really, really old man and Meskhenet thought he looked like he was going to fall over and die any moment but he came over to Meskhenet.

She smiled nervously at him, hoping he wasn't going to die in a minute. "H—hello…?" he coughed and handed her a scroll from his robe sleeves. She took it and then he picked up another scroll and gave it to her. He continued to give her many scrolls until she had a pile of scrolls in her arms. "Um…"

He coughed. "Don't just stand there, Missy, choose a design!" he coughed and hobbled back behind his desk of scrolls. He used his walking stick and scooted off all the paper from his table, and Meskhenet carefully walked over to the single brown desk, placing the scrolls atop. She unrolled them and spread them out. The old man merely looked at her. The scrolls contained many different designs of wands and staves, some were really fancy with gems and gold decorated on them, and others were simple and plain with solid colors. "Hmmm…"

She looked at him. He was staring at her and it kind of made her uncomfortable, it was like he was gauging her, judging her soul but then he said after a long moment of silence. "Girls like shiny things!" he picked up a scroll that had a girly looking wand of pink and white with a rose colored crystal in the center. "How 'bout this one?"

"Oh…" Meskhenet thought after all that staring, he would have chosen a staff that matched her. "No thank you," she laughed nervously a little. He continued to show her many girly wands but Meskhenet didn't want a wand, she wanted a staff. Somehow staves made her think of regal-ness and beauty. A wand seemed a bit… childish to her. She looked through the scrolls and suddenly a thought came to her. "How much do these cost?"

The old man coughed. "What?" he asked, placing a hand near his ear and leaning towards her.

"Um, how much does a staff cost?"

"What?!" suddenly the old man was deaf. She leaned a bit closer to him and repeated. "Oh, oh, no, a magician earns the right to a staff. You pay nothing." She sighed, that was awfully nice of them. She looked around the different designs until she saw a wooden staff and thought about the Black Witch's staff and her shepherd's crook. They were both plain and wooden but somehow she thought that fitted her instead of a fancy staff. She had come from humble beginnings and she wanted to express that in her staff. She looked around some of the scrolls until she found a wooden staff that was closest to what she wanted. She explained to the little old man about what she wanted in her staff. He nodded carefully as she explained that she wanted a wooden staff that had a hook at the end like a shepherd's crook but thicker and more curved inwards.

"Is that possible?" she asked uncertainly. She hadn't picked a design but rather told him what she envisioned. He had written some notes on one of the many scrolls. He was probably going to lose it.

The little old man nodded his head. "It is possible," he said. "But it will take some time to make. A week or two at the most…" she clasped her hands and smiled, thanking the old man. He hobbled off without saying anything to her, she thought he was going to come back but he didn't so in the end she left.

* * *

Author's Note: two more chapters and updates are gonna get slow because in part 2 I have so much edits I gotta do. I messed up the timeline and had to jump whatever was supposed to be later before and yeah... but anyhow I didn't want to spend too much time on Mes's 'curse' condition, it'll be brought up again later. Anyways, Bakura and Meskhenet are playing B.S. with gold, I used to play this with cards with my friends. The Court of Magicians pops up a lot in this story, it's something I made up 'cause I thought maybe the magicians should have some kind of academy/place of study and to be recognized. I don't actually know if oracles were treated bad by Egyptians, I know a lot of ancient civilizations (supposedly Egypt included) did use oracles at times, most I read weren't deemed high by society.


	33. Chapter XXXIII: The Thief Princess

Chapter XXXIII: The Thief Princess

The day had finally come for Meskhenet to move. It had been a little over a week since she went to the Court of Magicians; it hadn't been as magically as she thought it would be. The oracle had upset her and there weren't a lot of magicians there, Zaim had mentioned that the magicians were in a bit of disarray but didn't go into details. Her staff would be ready in another week, but they said they were going to have it delivered to Zaim. It didn't help either when Bakura came back and she spoke of the Pharaoh's passing which he seemed angry and yet at the same time he said it was a good thing which ended up in them fighting because she couldn't believe someone would say such a thing about the Pharaoh.

Meskhenet and Bakura had officially decided to move to Deir El-Medina (much to Zaim's disapproval). Bakura had gone ahead and secured a house for them (he insisted it was for her)—they both avoided Zaim's questions when he asked how they could afford such a house but Meskhenet knew he suspected 'how'. Bakari and Kek were all saddled up, taking whatever possessions Meskhenet had which consisted of just her old books (she never really found the black book, Bakura hid it well), scrolls and her clothes. Bakura insisted she could get every other item (utensils) new at Deir El-Medina. Zaim had given them an extra horse to carry other belongings but told them they would need to return it to him.

To Meskhenet's surprise, Bakura had actually packed his things too, whatever possessions he had apparently left on the top of the baker's shop. She felt like it was a new and fresh start. She would leave this place where all the pain and joy had happened. She would never forget Mallawi, it would still always be a home to her just as Beni Suef had been.

Nakia hugged Meskhenet and so did Skylar. Meskhenet promised Issar she would visit and send letters to him and his family. Gamilla and Neith were there too, Gamilla informed Meskhenet that she might actually see her in Thebes, maybe while Neith lamely told Meskhenet she wouldn't miss her but she could see that the brunette seemed a little sad of her departure. Zaim stood near Bakari, petting the horse he lent them. She walked over to him; they were all outside her old house. He looked at her but he seemed like he wanted to keep his distance.

"Master," she said, tugging at the sleeve of her dress. "Thank you for everything," she bowed. "And… I'm sorry for… being such trouble to you." She was going to say 'disappointment' but didn't think that sounded right.

He hesitated but placed a hand on her head and smiled. "You were never any trouble to me," he glared at Bakura who was feeding Kek an apple. "Unlike some others…" He quickly looked at her. He looked like he wanted to say something else and yet he didn't. "I wish you well and hope to see you again."

"We will," she said. They stood there awkwardly. She wasn't sure how to react now. He had been there for her but she had an old grudge against him since she was a child, but a part of her cared for him. Out of everyone she knew he was the last person still here. And if she really thought about it, he had been there for her father and her; he had wanted the best for her. She quickly hugged him much to his surprise. "You were always looking out for me… like a second father," she kissed him on the cheek and he seemed a little happy about that. "I will miss you."

"As will I," he patted her head but moved her away from him before he went over to Bakura. "I still don't trust you." Bakura ignored him. "But you… better keep her safe or I swear to Horus I will make you suffer unimaginable pain."

"I will miss you too," Bakura said sarcastically. Zaim glared at him, and Bakura merely smirked. "She's safe. She can handle herself and whatever else trouble she can't handle, I'll be there to rescue her."

"You better," and Zaim turned away. Meskhenet waved goodbye as she mounted Bakari. They nudged their horses to a walk and started to head out of town. Meskhenet looked back at her house once more. That had been the home for her and her father for nearly six years; it felt odd moving away from it. She had known the falls, the Nile, the marketplace and everything like it was her own home but now she was going into a village she knew nothing about.

She silently said goodbye to her father, her sheep, her friends and mostly to Zaim and his family. She turned to the desert ahead and Bakari marched on with Kek at his side and the other horse following behind tethered to Kek.

"So how does it feel to be moving?" Bakura asked her. She smiled at him.

"It's bittersweet. What about you? You lived here for almost a whole year."

He shrugged. "I don't stick around in one place often. It wouldn't be good for a thief to do so."

"You stuck around here—er, there?" they had just exited the village.

"Of course I did," he said simply. "There was some treasure I was trying to get my hands on."

"Really?" she wasn't aware Mallawi had anything valuable. It was pretty far from Thebes and it definitely wasn't a rich town. "Did you get it?"

He looked at her and smiled. "Why of course. She's with me now," and she suddenly realized he was talking about her. She blushed and looked down at her horse's mane. "Deir El-Medina is a two hour ride from Thebes; it shouldn't be a problem for you to travel between the two places."

"Thank you for… finding me a town," somehow that sounded odd to her. "Um… yes, thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. I should at least make sure my wife has a home." He said to her. She looked at him. He had insisted that the house was hers too and somehow that had made her sad. It was like he wasn't going to live with her. "What's wrong?"

"Are… are you going somewhere?" she asked. He looked confused at her questionably. "You said the house is mine. Are you not going to stay with me?"

He was silent for a moment and that worried her. "It's not like I'm leaving you," that didn't make her feel any better. "I just can't stay all the time with you. I risk you getting involved in my… escapades. I'll be there when I can."

She didn't really like the sound of that, but decided to put it off until they got there. The ride there felt like forever and when night fell for the first day, they stopped to rest the horses. Meskhenet made a little camp fire for them and huddled near Bakura who was watching the stars. She sighed, and he placed an arm around her shoulders.

So much had happened in a year. It was a little odd, she had felt like time had stopped for her but once it resumed, it was like everything just came crashing all into each other. The year had been filled with happiness and sadness, laughter and tears but she felt like she was ready to face the world, no matter how cruel or unkind it was, Bakura would be with her and if he wasn't there, she'd always look to the sky and look for their secret star.

"When we were kids I had tried to go north," Bakura said suddenly. She leaned her head on his shoulder and listened. Back then he hadn't told her why he was going north; to bring it up now seemed a little odd. "I wounded up in Tanis after escaping."

She realized that he had taken her down south when he didn't need to back then. "I deterred you from going north and instead you had to come back down south just to take me home," she said. "Thank you for taking me home."

"Stop thanking me," he said annoyed. Oh, right, he didn't like her thanking him often, least not with words. She looked at him, seeing that he looked annoyed. She kissed him on the lips, and he kissed her back before pulling away. "I ran into Zaabit in Tanis."

"Did he try to kill you again?" she asked bitterly. She hated Zaabit. Apep was crazy but he didn't hide behind fake smiles and sweet words. Zaabit was a monster.

"Not at first, he went around calling himself the Thief Lord and everyone knew him as that. They feared him but they obeyed him. Whatever he asked, he got," said Bakura. "He taught me how to use a sword, introduced me to some other thieves, he showed me their trade but I was already a gifted thief. I learned from him that thieves only look out for themselves, everyone else was a tool to get what they wanted. At one of his heist, he backstabbed me…"

She was silent, listening to his tale, but when he didn't continue she asked, "And you killed him?"

Bakura stared at her for a long time. "Yes. I wasn't going to allow him to steal from me. Not again." She remained quiet. She supposed he deserved that. He kind of had that coming to him since he did run off with their gold and even stabbed Bakura before. "Does that frighten you?"

"No," she said instantly. She wasn't scared of Bakura. He wouldn't hurt her, but she was worried that he may have found killing a trivial act now. "Zaabit had it coming to him."

Bakura laughed, though she didn't know what was so funny. She let him laugh while she twirled her hair in her fingers. He moved his arm down from her shoulders to her waist and pulled her closer to him. With his other hand, he touched her face and leaned in to kiss her. She moved away a bit, blushing as she felt his breath on her, but in the end she kissed him when he kissed her. She felt her heart soar and she moaned but then she felt his hand travel down her face to her breasts.

She pushed him away, and he looked angry. "What?" he asked.

She looked around, blushing. "Um… we're out in the open?"

He looked around too. "There isn't anyone here."

She stared at him in disbelief. Was he literally suggesting they do it out here? They were out in the desert with three horses—that's who were here! "The horses are here…"

"So?" Bakura raised an eyebrow at her. She just stared at him. He had no shame! "They're only animals. They'd jump on a mare without a second thought if one was here."

"You're not an animal!" she said, getting up but he grabbed her hand and pulled her down onto his lap. "No!" but she was laughing as he tried to kiss her again. She pushed his face away as his hand went up her stomach to her breasts. She quickly moved his hand away but that gave him the opportunity to kiss her.

She felt his hand move down her hip to the opening of her dress at her legs. She shivered at his warm touch on her legs, but she pulled away from him, laughing. "No! Bakura! Not here, wait till we're at Deir El-Medina…" he frowned; his hand was still on her thigh. She whimpered as she squirmed to get out of his grasp.

"I don't want to wait that long," he said quietly but she frantically shook her head.

Bakari was looking at them while Kek had nodded off to sleep for a few minutes. She felt uncomfortable with the horse's gaze on them. Why couldn't the horses go to sleep or something?—ah, no, why couldn't Bakura wait? She was confused on her emotions now. _He's a debaucher!_ She had to remind herself that they were out in the desert and it was wrong of them to do anything out here.

Bakura was still staring at her. "S—stop that!" she said to him. She looked at Bakari. "Go mind your own business!" the horse snorted and looked away. The other two horses didn't seem to care at all. She twirled her finger in her hair as she waited for Bakura to let her go, but he didn't. She bit her lower lip as Bakura kissed her again. She sighed; he was making her more confused. In the end, she gave in to him. Allowing him to stick a hand under her skirt to feel her through her underwear while his other hand fondled her breasts, as he kissed her face, moving lower to her chest before he kissed her breasts through her clothing, making her giggle. He laid her down beneath him in the sand, hiking her skirt up her thighs to expose her legs as he reached his hands to her underwear. She felt the warm sand on her bared legs while the cool air brushed against her skin, making her a little uneasy as she looked away.

Her face was red hot and her body was on fire, her heart wouldn't stop beating loudly and oh! The horses were looking every time she sang the sweet melody of pleasure, it was embarrassing. Their breathings were ragged and oh, Ra, they felt like two fires merging into one. But something was wrong; she felt the grainy sand scrap up against her back, making the whole situation unenjoyable as she winced. He was so focused on her body that he only noticed when she whimpered which made him come to a stop.

"Khenet?"

"The sand…" she whimpered as he leaned over to kiss her, "It's uncomfortable." He looked around, but saw nothing near them to lie on. He apparently wasn't about to just get out and go look for one as he sighed frustratingly. "Sorry…" rubbing his neck, he looked down before coming over her completely, taking her by her shoulder and waist and then rolling until he was beneath her and she was on top.

"Is that better?" he asked her and her heart melted at his consideration. She knew he liked being on top, he liked the power and dominance but he was willing to let it go so she could enjoy their time. Blushing, she nodded and kissed him softly. He smirked at her as he slid his hands to her breasts, apparently getting a better angle to grope them this way. "Put on a show, Khenet." She blushed, but did exactly that.

* * *

When morning came, she made sure to have Bakari walk as far away from Kek as possible. She was embarrassed from last night and she wanted to slap herself for giving into him. Bakura seemed to be in a good mood though, probably laughing inside at her embarrassment. It took them three more days to get to Deir El-Medina, and she wished she could say nothing else happened out in the desert, but it did. The next two nights, they had sex but out in the open, it made her feel kind of like an animal but she couldn't say she did not enjoy it at all but not her ideal enjoyment. He seemed pleased by it though. The third day, they were too close to company to do anything out in the desert.

They both were walking by their horses, reins in their hands. Kek and Bakura led the way since Meskhenet didn't know where the house was. Deir El-Medina was a lot livelier than Mallawi. There was more people (not as much as Thebes obviously) but the village was bigger too. The village occupied a small hollow in the foothills to the northwest of Amenhotep III's temple. There was a long dirt path leading into the village with open street vendors, a large stone wall encircled the village in a rectangular shape. There were more buildings to the right of the village than the left. Outside the village walls to the left was a sand pathway leading to some sand dunes to the left of it and down to the Nile. The people at the village were a mixture of many workers and poorer people but they didn't seem bothered of each other's status. Outside the town walls, closer to the Nile was the farmlands but Bakura led Meskhenet through the dirt path in the village.

They dodged children and merchants as Bakura turned to the right and they entered a pedestrian area where many houses were at. Meskhenet wondered how far their house was, they were getting pretty deep in the city. Bakura finally stopped in front of a house that was bordered by walls with two large wooden doors at the front. He pushed the doors opened and led Kek inside. Meskhenet checked out the doors, the wall was fancy enough. The walls bordered the house in an L-shape format. There was a small stable area to the left of the house (at the vertical line of the L-shape) for Kek and Bakari with an already filled water trough and some hay in some feeders. The horizontal line of the L-shape had a small garden area with a small door that led out to the side. The house had one small window to the left of the off-centered doors with two higher windows at the right. There were similar windows to either side of the house too.

Bakura untethered the third horse from Kek and sent Kek to the trough. He then proceeded to do the same for the third horse while Meskhenet walked Bakari over to one of the stalls. He immediately went to the hay while Meskhenet was checking out the wooden stalls.

"Come on," Bakura said as he took her hand and led her inside the house. The house inside was dark but the sun from outside peeked through the windows, lighting up the inside. Right when you entered the house it led to a sitting room with a table (that had two chairs) to the left while the right led to a wall with an archway entrance to the kitchen. The middle led down a wide but short hallway that opened wider to three doors. Bakura pulled her along to the door to the left and opened the door.

Meskhenet was too busy aweing at the house. It was a lot bigger than hers back at Mallawi, even slightly bigger than Zaim's! Bakura pulled her into the room and she was surprised to see a room with many empty shelves surrounding the walls of the room. There was a single desk with a chair in the left corner of the room, right below a window. Meskhenet gasped. It was a library for her! It was bigger than her study and sure, it was empty but she was so excited and happy! She hugged Bakura and squealed as she looked around the library.

Bakura was chuckling at her response. She went over to him again and hugged him then kissed him. "Thank you!" she said.

"I'm going to untack the horses," he said, kissing her and walking away. She looked around the empty library, trying to still her beating heart. _Eeep!_ She could buy more books and scrolls and not worry about running out of room! Wait, she turned around and ran to the room across the library. She opened the door and found that it was their bedroom. It was decorated with a bed at the back of the room, facing horizontal with a chest at the right and a table and chair at the left. There was a bed! Meskhenet jumped on the bed and sank in it. It was a lot more comfortable than the doctor clinic's bed decorated with light blue and white sheets and pillows. She grabbed one of the pillows and fluffed it, laughing.

How much did Bakura pay for this house and this furniture? There was a lot of stuff that she hadn't had in Mallawi. He was spoiling her, but she sort of liked it. She ran to the third door at the center of their bedroom and the library but when she opened it, there wasn't anything inside. It was an empty room. Ah, well, they could use it as a storage room or something. She went to the kitchen, there was a shelf in front and below of the window with a clay oven that took up most of the right corner of the kitchen. There was a table/counter near the clay oven but that was about it. There weren't any pots, jars or utensils and they hadn't brought any so that meant they would need to go shopping.

She went out to go help Bakura bring their belongings in. He had already untacked the horses, placing their stuff on the ground. She picked up a bag filled with some of her books and ran off to organize her library. She quickly organized them alphabetically by title. When she finished the first bag, she went out and got the other two with some struggles. Bakura had one bag over his shoulder and another in his hand. He saw her dragging the bags of books towards the house and smirked at her, watching.

After a while of enjoying her suffering, he finally picked up one of the bags and took it to the library. She came in shortly afterwards, breathing hard. "Thank you…" he just walked off to their room. She spilled her books on the floor and started to organize them but she stopped when she saw the black bounded book Bakura had hid from her. It wasn't whispering like before but it still gave off an ominous presence. She threw the book aside, glaring at it. Did Bakura pack it? She didn't think he'd bring it with them. She should've told Zaim about it before. She shouldn't need to worry though; the curse had been removed…

She would try burning the stupid thing later. She finished organizing her library and proudly looked at her work. There were plenty of empty shelves for her to go get herself some more books if she had some spare money. She pranced over to their room but stopped when she saw Bakura throw her clothes in the chest without folding them.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Putting your clothes away," he said simply. She stared at him then walked over to him. He looked at her. "What?"

"Go!" she said, trying to push him out of the way. "I'll organize this…" he handed her the rest of her clothes and she started taking out the ones he had thrown in the chest. He stared at her like she was crazy.

"What was wrong with what I was doing?" he asked as she folded one of her dresses and gently laid it on the bottom of the chest. She did the same to another of her dresses, trying to emphasize her point but he didn't seem to get it. She sighed in frustration.

"Give me your clothes," she said, and he shook his head, walking out. She folded her dresses and placed them on the left side of the chest, leaving the right side for his clothes. He came back and handed her the bag of his clothes. She neatly folded them and placed them in the chest then closed it. She got up, dusting her hands and placing them on her hips. "There!"

"That's everything," he said. She looked at him. Did they really bring that little with them? Well, now that they were settled in, she felt exhausted. She slumped her shoulders and dropped her arms at her side, sighing. She walked over to the bed and flopped down onto it, grabbing one of the pillows and hugging it. "So what do you think of the house?" He walked over to the bed and sat at the edge, looking at her.

"It's perfect!" she giggled. "Though… it must've been expensive…"

"When you're a thief, price is nothing and value is all," he smiled as he leaned over and kissed her. She raised the pillow to her face, blushing. She was really tired, but they had to go shopping today for food and utensils. She didn't really want to go outside though, they could just eat the bread they had brought from Mallawi, but they had been eating bread for a few days. She wanted some fruit.

"Hmmm, there's a tomb right next to this town," she whispered like it was a secret. Bakura smiled at her.

"Yes?"

"Did you choose this village because of that?" He shook his head. "Good. I thought you were going to use it as a treasure trove for our income." She was merely joking, but he laughed at her and she smiled.

"This village is full of architects and workers of the palace. The tomb is more than likely already robbed," he stated as he lied down next to her, turning to face her. "We should head down to the canal and clean ourselves."

She raised an eyebrow at him. Shouldn't their first priority be food? He was smiling at her, tauntingly. She narrowed her eyes at him, hugging the pillow to her breasts. "Wait…" she said in thought. He chuckled. "You just want me to get naked!"

He laughed. "We'll wait until nightfall. We should get some food," he got up. She threw the pillow at him, but he deflected it, laughing. He helped her up. "We can explore the village if you'd like?" His eyes trailed down her body as his hands followed, "Or you can give me what you promised."

She tilted her head in confusion. Promised? "I didn't promise you anything," she replied, removing his hands. "Besides you couldn't wait so you already got it. Maybe wait until nightfall."

He merely grinned at her which made her blush, "I'm a patient man."

"That's not what I perceived at the desert."

She changed her clothes and made him do the same. She put on a light tan kalasiris with a black and red halter neckline that had a red sash tied around her waist. The dress reached down to her ankles but had slits on the side of her legs, knee down. Bakura put on a light tan shendyt tied with a black sash and had his black robe on. He handed her a pouch (probably the one she stole from that man at the bar) full of gold and she placed it in her sash uncertainly. He had his own, though from the looks of it, their pouches were a lot less than they had been when they were at the bar days ago.

They went out their house, walking side-by-side as they checked out the village. Meskhenet was looking around as some children with a dog ran by, playing ball. There were a lot more children here than in Mallawi, but then again, Mallawi had older people because of them sending their children to Thebes and what not. One little girl who had been chasing the dog, stopped and looked up at Meskhenet, she pointed at her.

"You have pretty hair," she said, and Meskhenet unconsciously touched her hair. Most people probably wouldn't think so, red was the color of the desert and despite living here, most people didn't like Set's desert, she included. But whenever someone did like her hair, it made her happy.

"Why, thank you," she smiled at the little girl, bending down a bit. The girl smiled.

"You just moved here?"

"Yes, we are new," she replied with a soft giggle. The girl looked at Bakura but seemed a little frightened. Bakura was just looking at the girl rather uninterestedly.

"Welcome then, um… Lady of the Desert!" the girl said then went off to chase her dog. Meskhenet knew that the desert was the god, Set's domain and his color association was red, but her hair wasn't really that red and the desert was actually more brown and yellow than red. She straightened up and smiled at Bakura as they were about to continue walking until Meskhenet heard someone laugh.

"Wow, your hair _is_ really pretty," Meskhenet looked around but spotted someone from behind them. She turned around and Bakura did too. Bakura suddenly looked angry as a look of recognition passed his features. A young girl stood there with a hand on her hip, she must've been the same age as them or a little younger. She had strawberry blonde hair tied into a ponytail and gray eyes, she wore a light tan top that exposed her abdomen a bit but was covered by a dark blue sash, her sleeves were off-shoulder and she had a light tan shendyt tied at her waist but exposing her leg on the side which revealed a dark blue skirt underneath. She was a little shorter than Meskhenet but she had an air of confidence about her. "Hello, Bakura."

Meskhenet looked at the girl then at Bakura. "What are you doing here?" he growled. The girl ignored him as she walked over to Meskhenet and leaned near her, checking her out. She frowned as if she disapproved but she looked at Bakura and smiled tauntingly at him. Who was this girl? She hoped not an old lover…maybe someone he ran into before? The way the girl was dressed told Meskhenet the girl must've been a thief too.

"Wow, Bakura, you've really grown," she looked up and down at Bakura. Meskhenet glared at the girl. What was she doing? Was she checking him out? "So is this Khenet?" the girl looked at her, and Meskhenet was surprised that the girl knew who she was.

"Meskhenet," she corrected politely. Only Bakura called her 'Khenet' and she rather kept it that way. "And you are…?"

"Oh, you didn't tell her about us?" the girl seemed rather surprised but then frowned. Bakura gritted his teeth as the girl spun around them before coming back in front of Meskhenet. "He used to talk about you _all_ the time. Khenet this, Khenet that… bah! It was so annoying."

"Get out of here, Nephthys!" Bakura spat as he grabbed Meskhenet's hand but the girl, Nephthys, pouted as if she was hurt.

"Don't be that way, Bakura! We were friends once!"

"Who is she?" Meskhenet asked.

"No one," Bakura responded.

Nephthys laughed. "Really? No one? I helped you out back then…" the girl leaned towards him and placed a hand on his chest, but he slapped her hand away. What was wrong with this girl? Meskhenet moved a little closer to the girl only for the girl to scowl at her. "You know you always talked about Khenet. Such a coincidence that I find you here with her! Did you leave us to track her down?"

"Shut up, Nephthys!" Track her down? No, their meeting was a complete coincidence. He hadn't been looking for, but she did wonder why had he come back down south? Ah, that wasn't important right now, what she needed to know was who in the Nile was this girl?

"Who is she?" Meskhenet asked again, annoyed he hadn't answered the first time.

Bakura turned to her. "She's one of Zaabit's orphans."

"Orphans? We were a team, a family and _you_ left us!" the girl accused. "You know what I always found funny? Zaabit ended up dead because of some soldiers, you got away but you never came back to us." Nephthys narrowed her eyes at him. Meskhenet looked at the girl then at Bakura. He had told her that he killed Zaabit but apparently Nephthys didn't know that, maybe Bakura didn't want Zaabit's orphans knowing. "Zaabit really liked you."

"Zaabit was a madman," Bakura said. "Let's go."

"Zaabit was not a madman. He saved us from death," Nephthys said, grabbing Bakura's arm. He yanked his arm out of her grasp. "He had high hopes in you."

Meskhenet didn't know what relationship Zaabit, this girl and Bakura had together but the girl spoke of Zaabit with great admiration like someone who would speak of the Pharaoh. Zaabit _was_ a madman, but Bakura apparently had worked together with him. Meskhenet didn't know why though, he had mentioned that Zaabit introduced him to other thieves. Nephthys was probably one of those thieves but she looked about their age. Just how many children did he drag into his stupid schemes?

"Come on, let's go," Bakura said to Meskhenet. She looked at Nephthys who crossed her arms and tapped her foot. She was staring at Bakura and Meskhenet saw that the girl didn't miss him as a friend, she was attracted to him. Meskhenet frowned. Bakura pulled her along but Nephthys just stood there, a smile creeping on her lips.

Meskhenet felt that there was something off like she was missing something. Her hand instantly went to her sash and felt around her waist. Her pouch! It was gone. She stopped and Bakura looked at her. She whipped around and Nephthys smiled wickedly at her, raising the pouch tauntingly at her and shaking it.

"You forget…" she said in a mocking manner. "I too am a thief. I'm the Thief Princess."

* * *

Author's Note: This is the last chapter for part 1 and now updates are going to be slow like hell. I'm still editing part 2 heavily. I hope Nephthys's tone doesn't sound like Gamilla's? Gamilla is supposed to be like Queen Bee and Nephthys is more like a snob, don't know if I'm portraying that right. Anyways, new home, new beginnings, right? Well, Zaim is now moved to minor/supporting character, we're out of Meskhenet's home and gonna learn a little more of Zaabit's little gang~ as well as see more of the palace, whoo! I also want to take this time to thank all my followers for sticking with me and for all the favs and all the lovely comments. Thank you, everyone!


	34. Chapter XXXIV: The Falcons

_"Time is very slow for those who wait;_

 _Very fast for those who are scared;_

 _Very long for those who lament;_

 _Very short for those who celebrate;_

 _But for those who love, time is eternal."_

\- William Shakespeare

* * *

Chapter XXXIV: The Falcons

"Give that back!" Meskhenet said as she rushed over to Nephthys who laughed. She moved back, but Meskhenet was taller than the girl and luckily, the girl wasn't as fast as Bakura as Meskhenet was able to quickly grab her pouch. Nephthys looked annoyed. She pushed Meskhenet away only for the redhead to catch herself so she didn't fall.

"Look, little Miss Red has some spirit," Nephthys laughed bitterly.

"Watch it, Nephthys," Bakura growled, but Nephthys pulled a knife from somewhere in her shendyt. Meskhenet glared at the girl. The nerve she had! Meskhenet, not threatened by the action, waved her hand and the knife flew out of Nephthys's hand, skidding in the sand some distance away. Nephthys looked surprised.

"What?" Nephthys's surprise turned to anger and before she knew it, she slapped Meskhenet. Meskhenet clutched her fists but just pursed her lips. She was going to walk away from the stupid girl, however Bakura slapped Nephthys down with the back of his hand.

"Bakura!" Meskhenet exclaimed surprised. He was looking angrily at Nephthys.

Nephthys merely smiled and wiped her busted lip. "You hit harder than you used to."

"Nephthys!" a man called. Meskhenet rubbed her face, it stung a bit but her attention was pulled over to a tall man with dark hair who came walking over to them. He looked annoyed. He had brown eyes and a handsome face, but he had an air of arrogance about him. He wore nothing but a white shendyt. When he saw Bakura, he looked surprised. _Great, probably another one of Zaabit's followers…_ "Well, look who it is!" he spread his arms out as if giving an announcement. "Magda, get over here!"

A man with light orange-brown hair came running over. He was taller than Bakura and the dark haired man but he didn't give off an air of confidence like the other two, but rather he looked gentler and a tad bit nervous. His eyes were hazel and he wore a plain hooded robe, carrying a basket of food. He seemed just as shocked to see Bakura, only for his shock to turn to a look of worry when he saw Nephthys on the floor. She got up and walked over to them.

"Looks like the old gang is all here!" the dark haired one laughed. "Oh, and who is this?" he looked at Meskhenet. "No, no, don't tell me… it's…"

"Khenet," Nephthys answered for him, and the dark haired one burst out laughing like it was funny. Bakura glared at them.

"Khenet? Seriously? That girl you kept talking about! You went back for her? Damn, Bakura, I knew you were ambitious but this is ridiculous!" The man, Magda, said nothing but he wore a frown on his face. "Well, hello, _Khenet!_ I'm Saa." Something about the way Saa talked Meskhenet didn't like. His tone was degrading, mocking and just overall obnoxious.

"I didn't think you pack of scoundrels were still going to be clinging on to each other," Bakura said through gritted teeth, but Saa shook his head at Bakura. "Couldn't make it out on your own?"

"Please, Bakura, we don't hang with each other because we need to. We just like each other's company," he placed an arm on Nephthys's shoulders only for her to shrug him off, looking a little uncomfortable. "You couldn't understand that. You were always going on and on about your little girl friend. Don't tell me…" he grinned. "You're in love with her now?"

"Saa, let us just go," Magda said as he placed a hand on Saa's shoulder, but Saa slapped his hand away and Magda became quiet.

"Don't you know, Bakura? Love is weakness. You can't be great if you have someone clinging onto your side all the damn time," said Saa. "Didn't you learn anything from Zaabit?"

"I learned not to trust you morons," Bakura said bitterly. "I also learned that Zaabit was a fool. You all are too," he placed an arm around Meskhenet's shoulders and brought her forward a bit. Ahh, what was he doing? "She's a lot more useful than you three combined and she's a magician so if I were you, which thank Ra, I'm not, I'd keep my distance." Meskhenet looked at him uncertainly but said nothing. She didn't know anything about those three but if worse came to worse, she would use her magic, maybe even her ka against them.

"Magician, huh?" Saa looked her over, and she shrank back a bit. "Women aren't good for anything but their bodies." How rude! Women were a lot more useful than that! She was liking these people less and less every second.

"Keep your eyes to the floor, Saa, or you might lose them," Bakura threatened but he took Meskhenet's hand and pulled her along.

"Tch," Saa said angrily but he forcefully pulled Nephthys away, leaving Magda staring at Bakura and Meskhenet. She stared at him in the eyes and he just gave her a sad smile.

"Bakura!" he called, but Bakura merely looked back, continuing to walk away. "It was good to see you again."

Bakura shook his head and pulled Meskhenet forward into the marketplace. He was going too fast and his grip on her hand was tightening. "Bakura," she called, he kept on walking. She pulled her hand but he didn't let go. "Bakura!" he stopped and turned to her angrily. She kept pulling on her hand because every second, his grip was getting tighter and it hurt badly. He noticed and let her hand go. She rubbed it while he shook his head.

"Keep away from them," he said. "They're trouble."

"Bakura…" she asked worriedly. "What exactly happened within those five years?" He didn't answer. "Why did you go with Zaabit? He nearly killed you!"

"It's not important," Bakura said. "Let's get something to eat." But she grabbed his hand. She wanted to know what happened. She had let the five years gap between them slip by because she was just glad that they were together. Nothing exciting happened between those years for her, but she was worried now about what happened for him. He joined Zaabit, ran around with those three and then killed Zaabit but no one except him knew that, right? Why? She needed to know…

"Bakura…, please tell me," she said, but he just turned to her and shook his head. He turned around and touched her face.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She moved his hand away. She had been hit numerous times when she was a child; one slap from some stupid girl didn't mean anything, his concern though, was quite touching, she smiled at him, her heart warming up just like it had back at the desert.

"I'm fine, now are you going to tell me or…?"

He said nothing. She let his hand go and stepped back.

"I'll tell you later," that was beginning to get on her nerves. He didn't want to tell her about why he disliked the Pharaoh too! She knew he was closed off because of what happened in the past. Zaabit probably had an effect on him too for all his betrayals and what not but why didn't he trust her? Bakura looked at her wearily. "I'll tell you tonight."

She hesitated but she took his hand again and they started walking. He pulled her along to a restaurant while she was looking around at the street vendors. They ate lentil and fish and went on home. He promised her that they would go shopping tomorrow but for now they needed to clean themselves. She handed him a pair of clothes and a dress for her while she grabbed some soap and natron. They walked out together in the night. He was silent while she went on about what she thought about the village.

"I wasn't trying to join Zaabit's… group," he said suddenly. She looked at him and immediately shut up of whatever she was talking about. "I wanted to get out of Egypt but the borders out aren't open, there were guards and everything. In the end, I was stuck in Tanis with no place to go."

She placed a hand on his arm but he continued. "Zaabit was there. I tried to avoid him but he was 'so glad to see me'. He took me to his hideout and introduced me to his little orphanage of thieves, promised he'd give me a place to belong to…"

"And those three… they were your friends?" she asked worriedly. She didn't know much about Magda but they all didn't seem like nice people.

"No, we weren't friends. No one was friends there," he said bitterly. "It was a competition, whatever you stole, you had to fight to keep it to yourself otherwise some other kid would take it from you. It was every kid for themselves and Zaabit did nothing about it. He ruled as some Thief Lord in his own makeshift palace. It was really rather pathetic…"

"I'm sorry," she said. If Zaim hadn't sent Bakura away, what would have happened? Would Bakura have lived with her? Her father wouldn't have turned Bakura away, but Bakura might have become her brother… she didn't want Bakura as her brother, the thought was disturbing.

"I was there for a couple of years. Zaabit had high hopes for me, he went on and on about how I was like him," Bakura frowned. "Magda, Saa, Nephthys, Sakhmet, Tau and Selma were all orphans Zaabit took in."

"And… you," Meskhenet added, and Bakura smiled at her.

"Yes, and there was me too. Nephthys was always sneaky, hiding behind false intentions. She was almost as good as Zaabit. She worshipped Zaabit. Saa did too but he was always skirt chasing women. He's a misogynist."

"I think I figured that out," Meskhenet said, remembering Saa's comment about women.

"If they bother you," he stopped and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Do us both a favor and burn them." She laughed and shook her head as they started to walk again.

"I hope it doesn't come to that…" she said. She actually hoped she would never see any of them again. Them being thieves wasn't really a problem for her, it was just their attitude. "You… told them about me." He looked away, seemingly embarrassed.

"I was being stupid. I shouldn't have said anything about you," he flipped her hair off her shoulder. "Now they'll try dragging you in my problems."

She shrugged as if it was nothing. "You said it yourself. I can take care of myself!" she said proudly but just as she said that, she nearly tripped over a rock, and he started laughing. "Ahem," she brushed her dress, embarrassed. She was happy to see that he wasn't angry anymore. She stopped and he did too. They were just about at the canal. "So what about Magda?"

Bakura was silent for a bit. "Magda was a great disappointment to Zaabit. He was the nicest person there," he was silent again. "Magda can't harm a fly, but be weary of him. He's still a thief."

She laughed. "I've come to know that the only thief I can trust is you." She kissed him. He smiled at her and hugged her. She hugged him back. She was enjoying his warmth but he pulled away. Walking over to the canals, he began to strip without a second thought while she neatly placed the soap, natron and clothing on the edge of the canals before she stood up and turned to see Bakura knee deep in the water, seemingly lost in thought. She slipped off her shoes and began taking off her dress, dumping her clothes aside next to her clean ones before she jumped into the water, sloshing over to Bakura with the natron and soap in her hands.

Without a word, he took the soap from her, lathered some up in his hands before he wiped the soapy substance on her nose, smirking at her. She threw a handful of natron at him before splashing water his way and giggling. She turned away from him to get some actually bathing done, her thoughts running to those three at the town and the other trio back at Mallawi, wondering what exactly happened to Ata. _He won't find you here…_ but that wasn't true, if she continued to train as a priestess, soon it would be known that she joined the Queen's Guards. _You'll be stronger then,_ she hoped. The Black Book though…she had it with her, would he find it? Would he show up at her house one day?

Absentmindedly, she rubbed her hair with the soap before Bakura practically jumped her, making her fall into the canals and shriek. The large splash sent water raining in the canals, rippling and swirling as she struggled to stand but was only able to get on her knees while he laughed at her. For a moment, she blinked, disturbed from her thoughts before she angrily threw water his way. "Stop messing around!" she told him, getting up and turning away from him, shivering lightly from the cold water.

He stopped, seemingly disappointed by her reaction. "What's wrong with you?" she heard the water move and felt it slap up against her backside as he came over to her, placing his hands on her hips.

"Nothing...I just…" she failed to find the words of why she snapped like that, instead she sighed and leaned back against him, pulling her hair over her shoulder. "I guess…it's those three and Ata, it's like…I can't just live my life without having to worry about something or someone trying to get at us."

He was silent and it worried her, she turned around to look at him, but he was merely staring at her. He leaned over and kissed her neck, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You worry too much. Whatever happens, we'll deal with it as it comes."

She laughed, twisting herself in his grasp and placing a hand on his chest, "Why is it so easy to be you?"

He smirked at her, "I try to make it easy," he lifted her up, making her yelp a bit but she ended up laughing as she kissed his forehead. He kissed her chest before placing her down, running his fingers through her wet hair. "I don't know if I should be patient or not."

She didn't quite understand what he was saying, but she just shrugged as an answer. He was gazing at her body weirdly, lustfully and it made her skin crawl and her face to turn red. Embarrassed, she crossed her arms over her breasts and looked down, trying hard to see through the water. Deciding to ignore his gaze, she turned away from him again so he wouldn't spot how red her face was, hopefully since it was night he couldn't really see it. "Let's hurry up, I want to sleep in our bed." She jumped a little when she felt his hand touch her rear before slipping rather low. She took his wrist and moved his hand over to her waist. "Not now," she told him, his response was a kiss to the back of her head.

He didn't try anything else—well, she was quite certain he was trying to hint to her what he wanted from the way he caressed her body and his 'helping' her bathe. She was just too tired to register much of his hints so they finished bathing only for her to realize she had forgotten to get all the needed clothes for herself. Not bothering to make notice to it, they headed back home afterwards. By the time they got back, she was really tired so she forgot to go to her chest to put on some clean underwear, instead she flopped herself onto her bed and snuggled up in there. Meskhenet was so happy because of the bed that she felt like she never wanted to leave it. Unfortunately, Bakura came over not bothering to tell her to move, he just scooted her over to the wall.

Snuggling some more in the sheets and fluffing her pillows, she sighed longingly. She wasn't really happy that she was up against the wall and Bakura got the edge. "Why can't I get the edge?" she asked him, turning on her side to look at him while he turned his gaze from the ceiling to her. He didn't seem to hear her as his eyes trailed the length of her body. "Bakura!" Instead of answering her, he came over to kiss her neck and face while she laughed at him. "We just bathed."

"And you told me I had to wait until Deir El-Medina," he said, his voice muffled from her clothing as he kissed her chest through her nightgown.

"But you didn't!"

"Don't act like you don't want to do it," he grabbed her arm and pulled her over him until she was straddling him. Embarrassed, she covered her face, remembering how this was how they had sex in the sand. He normally wouldn't let her on top, she knew that and she rather liked it that way. She assumed him allowing her to straddle him was his way of taunting her. He stroked her curves to her hips before moving them up to her breasts where he touched her lustfully. Blushing furiously, she felt her heartbeat thumping wildly inside as his actions got rougher. He slipped her dress to her waist, allowing her breasts to be exposed while he licked and nibbled on them, making her wince as his hands worked on hiking her skirt up her hips where he found that she didn't have any underwear on which made her redder. "What's this?"

"Sh—shut up," she told him, looking away. He cupped each breast in a hand and squeezed tightly before moving his mouth to her left one where he circled her nipple with his tongue and licked it, sending chills and warmth through her body as she moaned. He licked her down her abdomen before moving back up to kiss her breasts. "Ba—Bakura…" she hugged his head, but she was tired, extremely sleepy from their trip and everything. Ra, she was quite certain if he had sex with her now she would probably fall asleep, "I'm tired…"

He looked up from his kisses and stared at her for a long while. He rolled her onto her back and climbed over her to stare into her eyes, "How tired?" he asked in a whisper. His lower body was right up next to hers and she could feel him right through his shendyt, touching her woman parts.

"I think I'll fall asleep during sex," she admitted, laughing a little. For a while, he stayed like that but eventually she didn't feel him anymore which made her feel a little bad. "You can probably still do it while I'm asleep?" she wasn't sure that'd work, it might keep her up or worst case scenario she'd sleep right through everything.

"Where's the fun in that?" he chuckled, kissing her cheek. "We'll sleep." He rolled off her and instead pulled her skirt down, however not covering her breasts still as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Grateful for his consideration, she tiredly kissed him before turned away from him as she knew what he wanted. True enough, he moved his hands over to her breasts, lightly massaging them and playing with her nipples, giving her a nice feeling of comfort and pleasure before she drifted off to sleep.

When morning came, she heard a muffled screeching from somewhere in the house. "Hmmm?" she said groggily as she sat up, Bakura's hands falling off her breasts. She shook Bakura's shoulder. "What is that?"

"Sounds like a falcon," he turned away from her, not bothering to check it out. Wait! A falcon? She got up, he was in the way, she tried jumping over him but her foot hit his leg and she fell onto the floor. He looked at her but didn't offer her any help. _Jerk!_ She quickly got up, fixed her dress and ran across the hall. She heard… two screeches and stopped in front of her library. Were there two falcons? She opened the door and saw a black falcon and a brown falcon. She recognized the brown one as hers but she didn't know who the black one was. They both had small scrolls tied to their feet.

She went over to them. The brown one looked at her angrily while the black one just lazily stood there. She went to take the scroll from her falcon, but it screeched at her and nearly pecked her hand. She retracted her hand and instead took the scroll from the black one, opening it as the black one ruffled its wings.

 _Dear Meskhenet,_

 _How is your new house? I hope you actually have a house and are not living on the streets… I should have checked your house out ahead of time. Nakia just told me to write about positive stuff and not to bash your the thief. I took the liberty to send the Great Wife details about your move. You are at Deir El-Medina, yes?_

 _How are you? It seems really empty here without you. My schedule seems odd too. I have no student to teach now so the doctor is now pestering me to help him and the healer. When you come back here, I might be a doctor. I'm not good at letters… this is the first time I've written to you… how are you?_

 _Regards,_

 _Zaim_

Meskhenet smiled at the letter from her master. He was right; it was the first time he had written to her. She needed to respond to him but then she realized she didn't have any paper. The black falcon looked at her but she merely smiled at it. It took off through the window above the desk. She looked at her falcon; it was too busy pecking its feathers. She quickly took the scroll but the falcon got mad and started chasing her. She screamed as she ran back to her room, slamming the door shut behind her. She heard the falcon scratching the door with its talons then it stopped. She sighed and went over to the bed.

Bakura was still lying there with one pillow below his head and another on his face. It was morning now, he needed to get up. She pushed his legs but he didn't move. "Get up," she said, but he waved her off. She pushed his legs again.

"Go away, woman," he said muffled.

She frowned and sat down on the floor next to their bed, leaning her back on the edge of the bed. She unrolled the scroll from her falcon and quickly read it. It was a summoning from the Queen! She would start work in five days as a cook! She reread the scroll again to verify that. She would have to start working in five days! That was too soon or too late! She didn't know.

Wait, she needed to get everything prepared at her house first! She vigorously shook Bakura's leg and he finally removed the pillow off his face and glared at her. "Get up! Get up! We need to go shopping!"

"What is it?" he growled as she stood up. He saw the scrolls in her hand and narrowed his eyes at them. "What is it?" he asked again.

"I start working at the palace in five days!" she said excited, disappointed and all at once scared. He raised an eyebrow at her but he looked at her in disbelief.

"Five days?" he asked. She nodded. " _Five days?!_ "

"Yes, I just said that! Now get up!" she gestured for him to stand up, but he placed the pillow over his head again and turned away from her. What was his deal? "What are you doing?!"

"Five days is a _long_ time!"

"No, no, it's too soon. We don't have anything here. Our utensils a—and paper! I need to send a letter to Master Zaim a—and we need food too!" he didn't respond. "Bakura!"

"What is your job at the palace?" he asked. She looked at the scroll and squinted at it.

"A cook," she responded. Wait… she wasn't quite sure if she was a good cook. She hadn't ever cooked for Bakura personally. She only made some food for her father but now she was going to be making food for the royal palace! And the royal family! Oh no! What if she screwed up? What if they fired her on her first day? This was her first job besides being a shepherd and farmer but she got to do that with her parents and at her own pace (kind of) but now she was going to be working with other people. It was all so overwhelming…

She looked at Bakura. No wonder he didn't want a real job. Being a thief meant you got to do whatever you want, when you want and alone or with a group of people and not worry about others!

He turned to her and propped his head on his hand. "You never cooked for me." She just stared at him overwhelmed with all her thoughts. "What's wrong?"

"What if I screw up?" she asked quietly as she started biting her bottom lip. He grabbed her waist as he sat up. He looked up at her. She blankly stared at him, drowning in her overwhelming thoughts.

"You're not going to screw up," he said. He ran his hands up and down her hips, but she just blinked at him. Suddenly she pushed him away and ran off to the chest and started pulling out her dresses. "What?"

"We need to go!" she rushed them out of the house and took off through the wooden doors. Bakura was tacking up Kek and followed after her in a leisurely pace. She was way ahead of them. She turned back to look at him but he seemed uninterested. "Come on!" What was his problem? He was acting like it was no big deal! She was going to the palace to work as a cook. Her nerves were standing on end and she felt sick. She wanted to get their house fixed up first before going to work. Why couldn't he understand that?

"Slow down," he said annoyed.

"No. Hurry up!" she replied, just as vexed.

"Khenet, look where you're going!"

She slammed into someone and fell on her rear. "Ow…" she said, wincing.

"I am so sorry!" a man's voice said. "Here, let me help you!" he offered his hand and she took it. He pulled her to her feet and she looked up to see Magda. Just her luck… Bakura rushed over to her with Kek. He saw Magda and glared. "Oh, my, Bakura…" Magda looked conflicted but he smiled.

Meskhenet pulled her hand away and stepped back near Bakura. Why was her luck so bad? Why couldn't something just go right for once… she huddled near Bakura, she didn't want to deal with any of his old 'friends' and she was really hoping they wouldn't run into any of them.

"Hello, Magda," Bakura said not sounding at all pleased.

"Hello, Bakura," Magda said a bit tiredly. "I was just running some errands for…" he didn't complete his sentence.

"Still being everyone's ass?" Bakura smirked. Meskhenet glanced at him sideways. That was rather rude, but Magda merely smiled. She figured Bakura was referring to a donkey.

"I guess you could say that…"

"Why work with Saa and Nephthys? You can do better," Bakura said seriously. He was gripping Kek's reins pretty tight. Meskhenet grabbed his other hand, and he eased on it a bit.

"Let us just say it is a mutualistic relationship." He looked at Meskhenet. "We have yet to introduce ourselves." The way Magda talked was similar to Zaabit, and Meskhenet didn't like that at all. Bakura placed an arm in front of Meskhenet.

"And you don't need to, now if you would move out of the way…" Bakura moved Kek forward, and Magda quickly sidestepped to get out of the way. He chuckled a bit. Meskhenet thought Magda looked a little sad and lonely.

"I hope you are happy," he said. Bakura stopped and looked at him. "You always seemed so lonely, but you look better." He smiled at Meskhenet. "Thank you for taking care of him." Then he walked away. Bakura looked upset as he pulled Meskhenet along. She didn't really know what that was about but Magda didn't seem so bad. She looked at Bakura. Had she really taken care of him? She felt like he took care of her more than she did…

"What did you say we needed?" Bakura asked suddenly. She was flooded with her overwhelming thoughts again and she rushed off ahead of him again much to his annoyance. They spent the entire day running around the marketplace and shops buying pots, pans, jugs, food and whatever else she could find. Meskhenet learned something while she shopped: that Bakura didn't know how to gauge an item's worth (or maybe he did but just didn't care). He just gave money away when paying without wagering or bargaining for a lower price. Sometimes, he gave away too much when the item wasn't worth even half of that.

Maybe it was her inner trader or maybe she was just so overwhelmed, but he was annoying her with his careless spending. Eventually she took his gold much to his anger and went ahead and just had him carry the items with Kek. When they returned home, she took some of the items from him and ran to the kitchen.

"We're done, right?" he asked, annoyed. She didn't respond as he handed her a large pot. She could tell he didn't like shopping, probably because he just stole what he needed and was done like that. He came in after her and asked the same question. She thought for a moment then nodded, and he looked relieved. When they finished setting up the kitchen and putting the food away, they both changed and laid in their bed.

She was staring at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts while he was facing her, his head propped on his hand and his free hand was playing with her hair. Was she forgetting something? She got what she needed for the kitchen, they got some paper (she would need to write the letter tomorrow) and they also got some snacks for the horses. The night would be over in twelve hours then there would only be four days left. _What am I missing?_ She bit her bottom lip but she couldn't think of anything!

Bakura moved his hand from her hair down to her hip. She looked at him but then went back staring at the ceiling. He leaned over towards her but then she exclaimed, "Oh!" and he stopped. "I haven't seen Diabound in a while!" She turned to him but he was staring at her in disbelief and exasperation. "What?"

"What does Diabound have to do with anything?" he asked irritated. He was stroking his thumb on her hip, and she looked down at his hand before looking back up at him.

"Nothing, I just want to see him before I go to the palace," she said honestly.

"You act like you're going to die when you get there," he hissed. She was certain that she was going to screw up and end up poisoning the Prince and probably would be drawn and quartered for her criminal offense so yes, she probably was going to die in a few days. He didn't seem to understand that.

"I would just like to see Diabound," she replied. He looked even more annoyed. What was his deal? "May I see Diabound?"

"No," he said, pulling her closer to him.

"No?" she said as he leaned towards her. She put a hand to his chest and pushed him away. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"Just what it means," he moved his hand slightly lower than her hip. _Oh…_ she grabbed a pillow and smacked him with it, moving closer to the wall. "What are you doing?"

"What are _you_ doing?" she asked right back at him. Was he trying to do it again? No! They already did it some days ago! What was wrong with him? Why was he always so horny? Were men always like this? Or did being newlywed came with a price? Back in Mallawi they seemed to have done it a lot, but they were starting new lives here, she couldn't be carelessly having sex all the time.

"You rather spend time with Diabound than your husband?" he asked as she moved his hand off her hip.

"Yes!" she said, though she didn't actually mean it. "I spent time with my husband today," he looked upset. He probably didn't count that as spending time with her. "And yesterday… a—and the days before that!" he was moving closer to her, and she was scooting closer to the wall until her back was completely against it. "You already tricked me back at the desert!"

"I didn't trick you. You wanted to have sex with me," he smirked, flipping her bangs aside as she started to sit up, but he placed his arm near her head and leaned over towards her until his face was inches away from hers. She had her hands up at his chest trying to keep him away from her.

"Oh, because you think you are _so_ irresistible!" she said, laughing. She let him have his way back at the desert but not now.

He leaned his forehead against hers. "You're irresistible," she blushed but shook her head, trying to keep him away but he pushed passed her feeble attempts and kissed her deeply. She sighed and placed her arms around his neck. She couldn't pull away since she was backed up against the wall and he wasn't letting go anytime soon. _Ah, what to do?_ She played with his hair until he finally pulled away and she felt out of breath, her heart was pounding loudly. He moved his face down her neck and she felt his nose touch her neck and she shivered. She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him away lightly.

"I still would really like to see Diabound."

Growling, he pinned her wrists above her head, using his free hand to feel under her skirt. He touched her hips, moving to her woman parts and disappointedly found that she had underwear this time. He gave her a sideways look only for her to return a sheepish smile. He dropped the skirt of her dress, moving slightly away from her to strip his clothes off. She shyly watched him, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and biting her lip as she briefly glanced downward before sliding into her bed, looking up at the ceiling while he came over her.

"Take off your dress," he practically commanded, but she shook her head.

"Diabound first, please," she insisted. She knew what he was going to say and she knew he wouldn't keep his word, too busy having fun to pay attention like last time. She sat up and crawled over to him, touching his chest and watching his skin lightly shiver from her touch. "Diabound first then I will take off my clothes and we can have sex."

He seemed uninterested in bargaining. "Take off your clothes or I will take them off for you."

She frowned. "Last time you told me to wait you never showed me him."

"I'll keep my word this time," he growled. She hesitated, only to sigh and strip off her dress. No sooner had she done so did he practically pounce on her, shoving her onto her back.

* * *

She turned onto her back, watching the stars slowly faded as she kissed him gently on the neck and chest. She felt incredible, overjoyed and her body was pleased, it was like being complete, her purpose fulfilled and she could swore that not even the gods could make her feel this way. He seemed rather sleepy now as he dazedly looked at her, brushing her hair and caressing her face gently. He kissed her on the lips before wrapping an arm around her. Suddenly, she felt something cold and a bit rough touch her body and she jumped, startled as she looked down to see Diabound slithering on her nude body up towards her face. She blushed and resisted the urge to throw his ka off.

"You wanted to see Diabound," Bakura merely said, closing his eyes and leaning his head on the pillow.

"N—not like this," she stammered as the white snake flicked his tongue, seemingly happy to see her as he slithered around her waist and up between her breasts. Her heart quivered and her body froze. Oh, Ra! She didn't want to see Diabound while she was naked! "Ba—Bakura!"

"He's my ka. He sees and knows whatever I see and know. Your naked form isn't something new to him."

"But I don't have sex with your ka!" she shouted. He twitched an eyebrow and ignored her while Diabound innocently snuggled with her face. She gently picked up the white snake and put him beside her while she quickly grabbed the sheets and yanked them over herself. "You're stupid!" she turned away from Bakura, holding the blankets close to her as she hid her face under a pillow. Bakura didn't say anything, however, she no longer heard Diabound, peaking out of her barrier of sheets she saw that the ka was no longer there. She sighed. Next time, she wasn't going to agree to his terms before her own. She felt him pull her closer to his body before he went to sleep, one arm under her waist while the other under her arm near her face. She kissed his fingers and gently guided his hands to her breasts, a little shyly. She never told him, but she liked waking up to his hands on her, wherever they were it didn't really matter, though she really liked it when he fondled her. It felt nice. As if reading her thoughts, his hands grasped her breasts and squeezed, making her moan a little as she blushed furiously. He continued to massage her until she fell asleep.

* * *

Author's Note: The first chapter of part 2. Damn, it's been 20 days since I last updated or something like that D:. I've been very tired and couldn't edit this for awhile, but here is it on Christmas Eve! I actually just came back from work. Anyways, those three play a part and will explain more of what happened with Zaabit, maybe. Also, that quote from Shakespeare is there for a reason about time :3. Let's remember who's Yaqeen's ka was ;). Well, Happy Holidays everyone!


	35. Chapter XXXV: The Priestess

Chapter XXXV: The Priestess

The days couldn't have passed faster and before she knew it, it was the day she was to go to the palace. She wore a white kalasiris with a jewel neckline and a copper belt at her waist. The dress reached her ankles (like usual) and she had some new pair of shoes Bakura had gotten her. Bakura had tacked up Bakari for her. He told her he was going to go on a raid later that day since he wanted to see her off in the morning.

She shivered and sighed as Bakura led Bakari out of the small stables, he handed her the reins and kissed her on the forehead. "Today's the day!" she laughed nervously.

"Stop panicking, it's unattractive," he smirked, running his hand through her hair. Who cared whether it was attractive or not? That wasn't going to make her worry and panic go away. She felt sick to her stomach. _Oh Ra, help me!_ She had prayed to the gods for a good day but her luck was never good. It was probably going to be a bad day. She frowned and Bakura kissed her. "I will see you in a few days."

"Hm hmm," she said, frowning. She wished he could come with her but he didn't like the palace (well, he said he didn't _not_ like the palace) and she couldn't just bring him along. He helped her get on Bakari who snorted. "Be careful…"

He nodded, and she nudged Bakari forward. She waved at Bakura, and Bakari took off at a gallop through the wooden doors and down through the marketplace. If she was honest with herself, going to the palace again was humiliating because she had been a magician apprentice but now she was a servant and it kind of made her heart ache, not living her dream, but this is what her father had wanted. She needed to respect and honor his last wish. _Oh, Father… I miss you._

True enough, it had taken around two hours to get to the palace and when she arrived, a soldier took Bakari to the stables and a servant rushed Meskhenet to the throne room where the Queen sat on the pharaoh's throne. Somehow it looked odd for her to be there. The Queen was dressed up in a white gown ladled with gold earrings, bracelets and a crown. She had a black wig over her pink and gold hair. In front of the Queen were what Meskhenet assumed to be the Queen's Guards, but there were only two of them present along with four of the Pharaoh's Court. The blonde man she recognized as Amon Ishtar from a year ago was there along with Priestess Halima who offered her a smile. There was an old man in a hood with a golden eye at the left, a young man in blue and linen with a serpent hat (he looked scary), Shada was there and another man with black even hair holding some scales. An old man dressed in linen purple robes with a niqab on stood next to the Queen as did Shada's wife, Erina who stood with a scroll and reed pen in her hands.

The Queen stood up as Meskhenet bowed. She was feeling quite overwhelmed, not like the last time she met the Queen but she had been preoccupied with her father's illness and there was no one there except the Queen and a servant. Now there were seven other people here.

"Rise, child," the Queen said gently, and Meskhenet did so. "Today starts your duties at the palace as you were informed," Meskhenet nodded. "You will work in the kitchen with the other servants. They will show and teach you what you need to know. After dinner, your priestess training begins with Priestess Halima," the Queen gestured to the stern looking woman. Meskhenet nodded again. "For now, I will have Master Aknadin show you around the palace."

Meskhenet nodded again. Ugh, she felt like an idiot. All she was doing was nodding! She finally mustered up enough courage and said, "Yes, my Queen."

The Queen smiled kindly at her. "Please relax," but she couldn't.

The old man next to the Queen said, "My Queen, we must get back to the hearings of the people."

She nodded. "Master Aknadin, if you would please." The old man with the golden eye turned to the Queen and bowed then went over to Meskhenet and gestured for her to walk ahead of him.

"If you would come this way," he said. Meskhenet nodded and hurried after Aknadin as he began to show her around the palace. He seemed to know a lot about the palace, maybe he lived here? No, he probably was old friends with the Queen or late Pharaoh? The palace was so huge; Meskhenet wasn't going to remember it at all. She decided that the way to the kitchen would be the most important to her since she would spend most of her day there.

"And this is the gardens," he said once he had shown her around the insides then went outside, but Meskhenet wasn't listening because across the pool of water, she spotted a familiar face. Aknadin seemed to notice her stare and said, "That is Mahad. He is the wielder of the Millennium Ring."

Mahad…he was nice to her and he had helped her be more honest with Bakura, but being honest with herself now, she felt too ashamed and embarrassed to see him. The last time she saw him, she was introduced as a magician's apprentice then she told him she was going to become a priestess but now on top of that, she was also some lowly servant. She quickly averted her gaze and walked faster so that she was walking side-by-side with Aknadin. He looked at her a little confused.

"My, the palace is huge!" she laughed nervously, hoping Mahad hadn't looked their way.

"Ah, young ones," he chuckled, and she wondered why. They stopped finally at the kitchen after the tour, it was huge! It had more than one clay oven and lots of tables with a lot of small jars containing various ingredients. It was a wide room with a center table in the middle where some of the current cooks were chopping vegetables and fruits. There was a cellar next to the wash basin and a door leading outside to some crates and to another door that contained flour and other pottery for some other ingredients. There was a storage room inside the kitchen too where the extra pots and jugs and ingredients were stored.

"This is where you will be working but you already knew that," he said. He seemed nice, and she bowed to him. A thought kept picking at her brain as she looked at his eye. _Did it hurt when they put that in?_ She couldn't ask that though…that would've been rude.

"Thank you for showing me around," she said. He smiled at her. She wondered what his relationship was with her father. Her father had known the other Queen's Guards as well as the Pharaoh's Court. "Um… maybe this is out of my place to ask, but did you know my father?"

"Ah, Yaqeen, yes?" he asked, and she nodded. "I did not know him personally but we talked here and there. He was a very kind man." There was a short pause as he looked her over briefly, "You had a brother, Hakim, right? I met the boy a few times before. He was very brave. I apologize for your losses.

"Thank you," she bowed again, her heart hurt a little thinking about all the losses she had... she had no family anymore. _No, you have Bakura…_ "I am sorry to have kept you away from your duties."

"It is quite alright," he chuckled and bid her farewell. He walked away, and the head cook came over to her and rushed her to help another servant with the dishes. The head cook handed her a cloth and instructed her to dry the dishes as the servant washing them handed it to her. The servant was a woman, a little older than herself, but she was very gentle looking with her hair pulled back in a brown braid. They introduced themselves, Meskhenet learned that the woman's name was Maat (the same name as her friend's) and that the head cook was named Undine.

"Am I going to be doing this all the time?" Meskhenet asked, drying a plate as she placed it down onto the table. Maat handed her another plate. "Not that I mind doing this!" she added quickly.

"No," Maat laughed. "We take turns around the kitchen. Sometimes they'll have you cook and sometimes they'll have you bake. Festivals and ceremonies are the busiest times for us."

"I figured," Meskhenet laughed nervously. "So what do we uh… cook here?"

"Oh, my dear, everything!" everything?! Oh, Ra, she was doomed! She didn't know a lot of recipes, no, no, wait they would teach her, right? Oh… this was so overwhelming. She nearly dropped the next plate but caught it before it hit the floor. She quickly dried it and placed it on the counter. "I should warn you though…" Maat looked around then leaned toward Meskhenet who leaned closer to her. "Sometimes we get special orders."

"Special orders?"

"Yes, sometimes the High Priests or Priestesses ask for some specific food, we usually get orders from the vizier," Maat said. "Also, be careful. Priest Set and Priest Ishtar come to the kitchen often."

Meskhenet raised an eyebrow. She didn't know who Priest Set was but she knew who Priest Ishtar was…that was Amon, if she recalled. Why would they come to the kitchen? "Um… why, may I ask?"

"They each have their reasons. It isn't our place to ask, but you should never, ever be in the same room when they _both_ are in the kitchen. The atmosphere is never good," Meskhenet nodded. Amon was intimidating enough just standing somewhere. Maybe his and this 'Set' had a relationship like Bakura and Zaim; that was a headache she hoped she didn't have to endure here.

After she and Maat had finished the dishes, Undine had Meskhenet cut some cabbages and onions so they could prepare for the royal palace's lunch. She then made Meskhenet knead some bread with Maat and some other women. Meskhenet practically ran around the kitchen the whole day, busy washing, cutting, cooking and doing all sorts of things that she had never done in one day! Lunch wasn't a time for the servants to eat; unfortunately, it was their duty to bring out the food for the royals, nobles, priests and priestesses.

Undine ushered Meskhenet out, handing her a plate of roast pig for her to bring to the dining hall. Meskhenet looked at the poor pig in disgust as she followed some other servants out. Bakura liked roast pig (much to Meskhenet's horror) and she sighed when she thought of him. She nearly smacked into the servant ahead of her. She apologized and continued walking the long hall to the dining hall. Why was it so far?!

The dining hall was a large room with a long table with multiple chairs. There was a large mural of a golden dragon in a sunset with a long slender red dragon and some weird blue demon creature on either side of the dragon. There were also statues of stock pharaohs in the corners of the dining hall. There were two entrances, one for the servants and another for the guests and hosts.

The servants each placed their plates of food down the middle of the table while some other servants placed the cleaned dishes and utensils down neatly in front of each chairs. They rushed out as more servants came in with more food. Meskhenet disappointedly found out that the servants didn't eat until after the guests and hosts had _finished_ eating as there was always a moment's notice when more food needed to be added or food had to be replaced and then there was the cleanup.

After Meskhenet had finished picking up plates and helping some other woman servant to wash dishes, then they were allowed to eat. Their food, however, was not as elaborate or lavishing as the ones they cooked. They got bread and lentil soup with water. It wasn't too far from what Meskhenet was used to eating (she still liked fruit way more) but lately Bakura had spoiled her. She ate in silence as she listened to the gossip of the other servants. Some of the women were nice enough to introduce themselves to her and welcome her to the palace.

There sure was a lot of gossip! From the Prince's daily lessons down to the relationships of the nobles, everything was talked about. The only issue with the gossip was some were truths, others were lies. She made the gossip she heard into the game she and Bakura had played back at the bar (she did this in her head). The Prince was in love with the vizier's granddaughter (truth), Shada shaves his head (truth?), Priest Set likes red (lie?), the Prince is starving himself (truth), Aknadin is a witch (lie), the Queen mourns her husband every night (truth), Mahad is the handsomest and most gentlemanly man in all of Egypt (lie/truth?). She realized the game was a lot harder because she didn't know these people at all and that made her miss Bakura even more.

When they had finished eating, they cleaned up the kitchen and were sent out for a break. Meskhenet was too overwhelmed to go anywhere since she thought she would get lost in the palace. Whatever Aknadin had told her was only half processed so she stayed in the kitchen, sitting on a stool and drawing an invisible Diabound on the table. She was alone as most of the servants went out to enjoy the outside.

Many of the women were older than her, the waitresses and waiters were slaves mostly and were quite younger or around the same age as her. She was a little afraid to speak with the slaves since she didn't know how they felt about the palace and everyone. Work was hard…

She heard the door open and expected to see one of the other servants but to her surprise the young man in blue with the serpent hat entered in the kitchen. He merely looked at her and 'hmph' her as he walked right pass her. Wait! Was he a noble or priest? He had a pretty face with nice blue eyes (not as nice as Bakura's) but there was an air of arrogance about him. He wore a scowl, and she couldn't help but think that he would have looked so much better smiling.

She got up as he walked over to the storage room. "May I help you, sir?" she asked nervously. What was he doing here? Wait! Maat said that Amon (the blonde man) and a man named Set came in the kitchen often. This must be Set!

He looked at her. "No," he said curtly as he came out with some meat and chopped up vegetables on a plate. Meskhenet looked at him nervously. He went over to one of the tables in the corner of the room and placed the plates down. He turned to her. "Do you not have anything better to do?" he asked rudely. He sounded angry, and she wondered what she did to make him mad.

"N—no, sorry, sir, I, um… am new here," she said, looking around. "Did you need help?"

"I told you already that I do not," he turned away from her. What was his problem? "I am also aware that you are new. You were just at the throne room this morning." Ah, right, she forgot he was there. She wondered what she should do… he was angry with her? Should she apologize? Wait, she just did…

"I'm sorry," she said, awkwardly as she rubbed her arm, but he said nothing. He started to cook his food, and she was surprised. Why was a noble or priest cooking his own food? Didn't Maat say that the servants got special orders from the nobles and/or priests? She really wished someone else was here…

The door opened, _thank Ra!_ She turned around and to her utter shock and horror: it was none other than Amon Ishtar. He took one look at the room just as Set turned around and they stared at each other. Somehow the room felt fiery hot and not because of the fire Set was using to cook, the air felt heavy as the two men stared at each other. Didn't Maat say that one never wanted to be in the same room as the two? _I'm going to suffocate!_ Set was glaring at the blonde while Amon just gave him a blank stare but to her relief Amon left, closing the door behind him. and Set resumed his cooking.

She let out a heavy sigh and sat back down on her stool, but she kept her eyes on Set. When he finished cooking his food, he went over and sat across from her. Oh no, she didn't want to be here, maybe she should just leave and get lost in the palace? Wait, wouldn't it look rude if she left now? That'd probably make him angrier. Ahhh, what was she supposed to do? She averted her gaze and drummed her fingers nervously on the table. Her eyes found his plate of food; it was beef steak with some fried vegetables. It looked pretty good considering it was cooked by a noble or priest.

He looked at her and glared. "Stop that," he said, and she instantly put her hands on her lap, tapping her foot. He looked up again, glaring, and she froze. She muttered an apology, and he began to eat his food.

"Um… if you don't mind me asking, w—why are you um… here?" she hoped that didn't sound rude. She wasn't trying to be rude. Talking to Set was worse than talking to Bakura's old 'friends'. At least with those thieves she could have used some magic against them should they be or say something rude since they were all peasants but this man in front of her was a regal noble (or priest). She couldn't blast him away with magic. She would have been punished.

"I do mind," he said rudely. "I did not come here to have a conversation."

She pursed her lips as she looked down. She really wanted to leave but she was afraid that that would have offended him, he had gotten angry at her for nothing… she looked around the room, sweating, hoping for the other servants to come but their break was agonizingly slow. It felt like forever for her to sit there across from Set who ate his food, somehow completely ignoring her existence. Oh Ra, she wanted to melt into a puddle and just die!

All the servants came back just as Set finished his food and put his dirty dishes aside. Well, just her luck, everyone was back when she didn't need them. She sighed when he left the room, and Maat came over to her.

"I heard from the other servants that Amon came in here," she smiled nervously as Meskhenet nodded her head. "Did something happen?"

"Oh, I think those two have the power to kill all in sight should anyone get in between their gazes!"

Maat laughed, but Meskhenet was not entirely joking. They began to prepare dinner and just like for lunch, they didn't eat until after everyone else did. To Meskhenet's relief and disappointment, she didn't have to cleanup because Priestess Halima needed her at the Shrine of Wedju but that also meant she didn't get to eat.

She had to be escorted to the Shrine of Wedju of Priestess Halima's by a soldier. She entered the ziggurat shaped temple lit by fire at the dark entrance. When she entered the temple, it was filled with stone tablets on the platform with four stairs on all sides and on all the walls around the temple too. The stone tablets were mainly of cats with a few dogs. Halima stood in the center with a book in her hands. Meskhenet stopped at the top of the stairs, nervously looking around.

Her father had once told her about the Shrine of Wedju, he too had one but she was too afraid to ask about his. He had died a few months ago; they must have gotten rid of his temple. Halima smiled gently at Meskhenet. "It is a pleasure to see you again," she said, and Meskhenet came a little closer. Meskhenet closed the distance between them as Halima handed her the large book. Meskhenet took it and stared at the book. "You remember what the Shrine of Wedju is for, yes?" Meskhenet nodded, tired from work to pay much attention to the older woman. "He spoke a lot about you," Halima continued, smiling. "You were his pride and joy."

She really missed her father. She realized she was quiet and suddenly said, "Thank you…"

"I am truly sorry for your lost," she thanked Halima again. "This was his greatest wish for you to take over his place." But it wasn't her dream. She merely smiled at Halima. She would bear and grin it for her father's sake.

"I assume you've heard of the forty-two commandments?"

Meskhenet nodded. "Yes, my father had my brother and I memorize each and every commandment."

"Then I will start by having you recite them to me." And so her lessons of priestess-hood began.

When the day was over, she took Bakari and rode home. She was so exhausted she nearly fell asleep while riding him (she didn't think that was even possible). She got off him when they approached her house and she opened the double doors, leading him to the empty stables after she closed and locked the gates. Bakura must have taken the third horse back to Zaim… that meant he must have been pretty far. She sighed as she untacked Bakari.

"Goodnight, Bakari," she petted his muzzle and he snorted. She went to her house and opened the door. It was rather dark and cold; she kicked off her shoes carelessly and walked over to her room tiredly. She flopped onto her bed. Her arms were strained from carrying all those dishes and pots and her hands hurt from holding onto a knife for so long. The bed still felt warm from Bakura. Ah, she couldn't sleep now… she needed to take a bath. She groaned as she got up but she slid to the floor.

She could wait until tomorrow, right? No… she had to go back to the palace in the morning. She crawled over to her chest and pulled out her nightgown. She wished they had a job for a royal shepherd, that was something she could do. She picked up some natron and soap and left her house. While on her way to the canal, she looked up at the brightest star and sighed.

The next day was just as hectic as the first and she assumed it wasn't going to get easier. When she was helping the other servants set the table, she nearly ran right into the Prince in the dining hall. He apologized vigorously to her as he stepped to the side just as she did.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she said sheepishly. She moved over to the left but he did too. He laughed a little embarrassed and allowed her to pass him. She thanked him but he merely looked down. She thought he looked cute and yet there was sadness inside of him, the same as she had. She offered him another apology, this time meant for his father's passing, but she didn't think that got through; he merely smiled at her and said it was fine.

That day at her priestess training, Halima had taken her to all the temples which took a long time! It was probably midnight by now and they weren't even at the last temple! Meskhenet listened intently to Halima's every word, taking down notes. She saw other priestesses coming in and out, performing their rituals. There were so many temples that she had only gotten a little sleep that day and simply returned to the palace in three hours.

She nearly nodded off to sleep during the break but instantly woke up when Undine and the vizier came in. The vizier was talking about some food, and Undine laughed as she left to the storage. The vizier looked at Meskhenet who sat up straight and drummed her fingers together. The vizier removed his niqab, and Meskhenet could see that he had gray hair with crooked bangs and a medium length beard.

"You're Yaqeen's daughter," he said in an old voice as he smiled. Meskhenet nodded nervously. "Ah, he mentioned you a lot. He always wanted you to take his place." Meskhenet gave him a small smile. Always? But hadn't her father known she wanted to be a court magician? It made her sad to think that her dreams hadn't aligned with her father's, not just recently but for years. Undine came back with some dishes and ingredients. "How is your priestess training?"

"Oh… it's going quite well…" Meskhenet laughed a bit. "Thank you for your concern." The vizier nodded and went with Undine to the clay oven. Later that day, Meskhenet was taken to the library of the palace and it was huge! It had shelves of scrolls and books of all kinds! It was rather dark but there were some desks and chairs centered in the middle bordered by the many shelves. Curiously, there was a closed off cellar of some sort but Meskhenet didn't bother to go there.

Erina came in and nodded to her, placing a scroll into an empty spot on a shelf before leaving. Halima came in later and found Meskhenet reading a book on the many animals of Egypt. Halima had a Diadhank in her hands, but unlike most it was left-handed so that it went on the right hand. Halima placed the device on the table in front of Meskhenet.

"Your father had this customarily made for you," she said as Meskhenet stared at the device. "It is rather… different for us to see left handed people."

Meskhenet looked at her hands. "I'm not really left handed…" she wrote with her right hand but she always carried her shepherd's crook with her left. Did her father assume she was left handed because of that? He had seen her write so she was a little concerned why he had a Diadhank customarily made for her. "But thank you for um… bringing this to me."

"You will be allowed to use and keep it when your priestess training is complete. For now, I just wanted to show it to you," said Halima. She smiled down at Meskhenet. "You know, I have a daughter a little younger than you."

Oh, she wasn't aware that Halima was married but she didn't want to say that so she merely smiled. "Um, is she training to be a priestess too?" it seemed a little odd to hear Halima talk of her family. Never had she mentioned her daughter before…perhaps, she was trying to ease Meskhenet about speaking of her family since the redhead just lost hers.

Halima frowned. "It's a little complicated, but yes, she is to take my place as the Wielder of the Dragon's Eye." Halima placed a hand on the necklace around her neck. It was a circular object in the shape of a dragon's eye. Meskhenet remembered that her father had mentioned about the Dragon's Eye, it was a powerful object used to speak with the dragons of the world, but most of its wielders had yet to discover its full potential. "She's not like other little girls… she is very… odd."

"Odd?" Meskhenet asked. How could a child be odd? Was she... perverted or did she talk to herself? It was a little unsettling for a mother to call her child that. Meskhenet didn't really see Halima as a caring and nurturing type but she was kind and stern (qualities of a mother). Perhaps her daughter and her were a bit estranged?

"Ah, pardon me for speaking of my personal life," Halima said. "We should get to your lessons."

* * *

Author's Note: chapter 2 of part 2! Meskhenet's finally at the palace and her somewhat introduction to Set XD. It's not going to mention this, the only reason Mes's diadhank is left handed is because she wields the Dagger in her right hand (she didn't realize that.) I don't know if I mentioned this, but Halima and her family aren't my characters, they're Star Moriko's characters~.


	36. Chapter XXXVI: The Artist

Chapter XXXVI: The Artist

It had been a whole week and a few days since Bakura had left and she started working. Meskhenet had two days off, thank Ra but with Bakura not here (she wasn't sure when he was going to come back) she didn't really have anything to do. She had sent a letter to Zaim but had yet to receive a reply. She hadn't received her staff either but that wasn't really concerning her right now.

What was concerning her right now was what to do. She was bored. Bakura was not here, and she didn't really need anything from the marketplace but maybe she should just stroll around the village. She could go to Thebes and see if she could find where Maat (her friend) lived or maybe see if Gamilla was there…ugh, she didn't want to go to Thebes, she spent most of her days there. She put on a white kalasiris and left to the marketplace. She decided she would just window shop to pass the time. She hoped Bakura would come back soon.

Exiting the gates to her house, she spotted some children playing ball with two dogs which made her smile. She brushed her hair behind her ear and pursed her lips, what would it be like if she and Bakura had children? No, they weren't parent material. She had just straightened her life out and he…he was a thief, children was probably the last thing in mind. Suddenly, she felt a presence from behind her and turned around and to her disappointment, she found Magda. It had been nearly two weeks and she hadn't run into them, but now she had and she wished she had stayed home. He smiled at her.

"Hello," he said, placing his hands behind him. "I was wondering, is Bakura around?" She shook her head and stepped away from him. "Ah, I see… you do not trust me." How could she? He hung out with Nephthys and Saa, he too had been a part of Zaabit's orphans. "That is quite alright. I do not trust you either."

"Um… but you are talking to me?" she said confused, but he chuckled.

"Yes, I am. I just wanted to speak with Bakura, but he is not home as you have said," said Magda. He placed a finger on his chin and looked up at the sky. "I have yet to introduce myself." She didn't want an introduction to him. She didn't want to be talking with him. She inched away from him. He looked down at her and smiled. "I am Magda, and you are?"

"You know who I am," she said a little nervously. Nephthys and Saa had known her so she assumed Magda would've too.

"No," he said simply. "I know Bakura used to talk about a girl named Khenet with hair the color of the desert. You were his first friend after some time was what he said." It kind of made her happy to hear that but she still was trying to move away from Magda without being obscenely rude.

"Well…" she said a little uncertainly. "I am Meskhenet."

"See? I did not know you," he smiled. He seemed nice compared to the others but something about his demeanor was similar to Zaabit's fake self. Ata had also seemed nice and he was as twisted as Zaabit. For all she knew, Magda too was hiding a monster behind that smile and attitude. "I wanted to know… and it really is not my business to… but you know about Bakura, yes? That he is a thief…?"

"Yes, that is actually how we met…" she said. "You are a thief too."

Magda laughed. "Yes, but I am a thief of a different kind." She looked at him questioningly. He leaned forward, and she leaned back. He stopped and smiled. He whispered, "I steal secrets."

She laughed. Secrets? It sounded odd for someone to say that. She always assumed thieves stole materialistic items. "Really? Secrets?"

He nodded and leaned closer until his mouth was near her ear. "I know that Bakura killed Zaabit." Her heart jolted and her body shivered. She was shocked. Nephthys hadn't known and she assumed no one else did but here was Magda admitting he knew the truth. He moved away and smiled. She didn't really know what to say and decided to move away. "Ah, did I frighten you?"

"I think I should be getting home," she said, moving further away.

"Allow me to walk you home?" he asked, but she didn't want him to. She shook her head only for him to laugh. "A lady should not be wandering a village of thieves alone."

"A lady shouldn't be wandering around a village alone with a thief!" she said as she ran off, but he seemed surprised and quickly ran after her, calling her back. Ah! She couldn't go home; she didn't want him to know where she lived! She made a mad dash to the left of the village and into an alleyway but just her luck she smacked right into Saa's back and he turned around and smiled wickedly at her.

Magda came in the alleyway and seemed surprised to see Saa. Oh no! She was surrounded. She scooted away from Saa but stopped before reaching Magda. Saa approached her and crouched down in front of her. "Well, well, look what the cat dropped in," he said, chuckling.

"Saa, leave her alone…" Magda said, concerned and yet kept his distance.

"Where's Bakura? Did he leave you? That's just like a thief to take off running when it comes to responsibility," he flipped her bangs from her face, and she pressed away from him into the wall. He looked up and down her body and she didn't like that at all. She summoned a flame to her hand, and he backed off, getting up. "Whoa! Whoa!"

"Magic…" Magda said amazed as Meskhenet quickly stood up.

"Yes! Magic! Now back off or I'll burn you!" she kept waving the flames in front of the dark haired man, but Saa laughed, not moving out of her away. Magda was too amazed at the flame that he didn't seem to be there. Meskhenet looked at the two wearily, getting ready to throw the flame at Saa or Magda should any of them approach her.

"So he wasn't lying that you're a magician. That's pretty impressive," Saa said. "What kind of magic does he makes you perform for him?"

"I have no obligations to answer you!" she said as he took a few steps closer to her. She moved the flame near him, and he stopped but he wore a smirk on his face.

"Do you want to know what a real man is?" he said in a low purr. She gave a disgusted look at him, but Magda seemed to snap out of his trance. "I can show you…" he reached over to her hip, but she burned his hand with her fire, and he quickly pulled his hand away. What in Ra's name was wrong with this man?

"Stop that, Saa…" Magda said as he came closer to them, only for Meskhenet to move the flame his way. Her heart was thumping wildly like a frightened animal, she wished she hadn't met these damn thieves!

"Get away!" she said. She looked passed Magda; she could get out through that way. He seemed like kind of a wimp, she could try to knock him down… but he was so much taller than her and Saa. If he decided to jump on her, she wouldn't stand a chance. She wished Bakura or Zaim was here…no, she couldn't rely on them. She was going to be a Queen's Guard, a priestess, she had her magic, she wasn't defenseless and if worse came to worse, she had her ka. "You want to know what kind of magic I perform?" she said, a thought coming to her. "I'll show you!" she made a smoky mist appear in the palm of her hand and she threw it down onto the ground. It exploded into a thick smoke and she heard the two fools start coughing. She took off at a sprint, pushing pass Magda who didn't even try to stop her as he covered his face. Her heart was racing as she took off back towards home, hoping the two wouldn't follow, luckily they didn't and she quickly entered the gates of her home and closed them. She was breathing hard and Bakari stomped his feet

What a day to spend on her first off day ever… where was Bakura? She walked over to Bakari who neighed at her. She petted his muzzle, and he shook his head. It was good to have a horse again. She hugged his muzzle and then heard another horse neigh in the distance and suddenly the gates were kicked open and Kek came galloping in, Bakura on his back. He pulled Kek to a halt and jumped off. Oh! The gods were indeed kind!

"Khenet!" he said happily as she ran over to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. It was good to be in his arms again. She inhaled his scent and kissed him. She wanted to tell him about what happened but he seemed preoccupied. He untied something from Kek and handed it to her. It was her staff! How'd he get this? Maybe Zaim gave it to him when he returned the horse to him.

"Oh! Thank you!" she hugged him. He changed their hug into a deep, passionate kiss that hinted he wanted something a little more than that. She could practically feel the lust and zeal in him. She pulled away. "Oh! Wait…" she looked at her staff. Not only could she focus more precisely in attacks now but she could also use it to whack people! Great! Now Saa and Magda wouldn't try and bother her. Gripping the firm wood in her hands, she somehow felt like a shepherd again. Oh, the smell of the wood and the smooth but slightly jagged carved staff felt at home in her hands. She really wanted to use some magic with it.

"Look," Bakura pulled out a fancy gold necklace from one of Kek's bags, moving behind her to place it around her neck but the thing was heavy! She gave him a strained smile. It was really putting pressure on her neck and chest. He looked her over and smiled, tugging her hand as he glanced at their house, a wicked smile coming to his lips.

Oh, no, she knew that look. "It's morning."

He frowned, "Sometimes I feel like you try every possible excuse to not have sex with me." He pulled her to the house, leaving Kek to wander to the stables himself. "Private property and it's all ours." He told her, closing the door to the house, throwing her staff aside which made her a little angry at his carelessness. He moved her hair behind her back and caressed her neck and face, kissing her. After her strange encounter with Magda and Saa, she wasn't sure if she really wanted this now, but he kept on kissing her, making her moan and then his knee shot up and hit her on her nether regions. It was like a wild beast in her awakened and she could no longer think straight. The desire for more than just kisses came over her and she deepened their kiss, placing her hands on his hips while his hands found her breasts and squeezed rather roughly, making her blush and give out a cry of surprise. "I missed this."

"I missed you," she told him, her breathing becoming ragged while he groped her harder, chuckling. Ra, sometimes his roughness was appreciated; she could feel her breasts tingling. He rubbed his knee over her nether regions before he picked her up bridal style, making her yelp in surprise. "Bakura!" her face was red hot as he took them to their room. Oh, she missed him so much! She could think of all the possible ways they could spend time with him, intimately or simply platonically, she wasn't sure what it was going to be, but the thought was exciting and heartfelt. Her thoughts wandered elsewhere while he carried her, to more personal matters: it got her excited just thinking of his nude form, his hot body touching her, skin to skin and oh, his breathing and heartbeat!

She was already on her back now, and the next moments were simply heaven to hear, she had forgotten all about the time. it must've been a few hours or at least it felt that way. It felt like they had been at it for an eternity, she couldn't say she disliked it though. She felt like he had took her to heaven and back. Panting and breathing hard, he flopped down next to her as she went to lie down on her stomach, hugging a pillow to her breasts that hurt a bit from all the groping. She knew she would end up bruising later in the day as she almost always did after sex. Bakura really wasn't gentle at all.

As much as she loved Bakura and their time together in intimate ways, it was messy and that meant she had to do laundry which she had _always_ hated since she was a little girl. She buried her face in his pillow while he stared up at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought. She looked at him, blushing a bit from his profile. He always looked so handsome, albeit now he looked a little conflicted over something. He usually made some embarrassing comment about their sex or her body, she nudged him with her arm, and he turned to look at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, crawling over to lay half her body over his chest, molding her breasts against him and moving the pillow down to her abdomen. She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him on the neck.

"I'm planning to make a band of thieves," he said. A band of thieves? She blinked at him, processing that in her head. Wait…wasn't that what Zaabit did? Why would Bakura want that? What was wrong with him being solo? Was there a treasure he couldn't get without help, if so, she'd help. She didn't want him to make a band.

"What's wrong with you doing it alone?" she asked quietly, staring him in the eyes. He laid his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them. "You've always done well by yourself."

"I want to be King of Thieves, Khenet, how can I be a king without any subjects?" he really was taking this whole 'King of Thieves' thing seriously. Not that she minded, but it seemed like he was going to be an anti-king or something, king of the wrongs whereas the Pharaoh was king of the rights… "I can be ladled in gold all I want, if I have no subjects, servants, then I might as well be a corpse in a tomb."

"I can be your subject…"

He burst out laughing, his chest vibrating as he ran his hand through her hair. "You're my queen, not a subject," he grinned at her. She looked down uneasily. "You don't like the idea?"

"You told me thieves have no… rules, conviction, who's to stop anyway from betraying you?" she asked quietly. She worried for him whenever he left for a tomb, she didn't want to worry about him being stabbed in the back.

"You rule with fear," he told her. She looked up, a bit shocked. Fear? She remembered what Zaim said, fear was the strongest emotion. She remembered the oracle that she told had given Bakura fear and yet, here he was, saying he wanted to rule by fear. "People won't hurt me if they know I'm stronger. They'll obediently listen."

"That's tyranny," she replied, "Zaabit did the same thing! Do you plan on being like Zaabit?!" she rose up, staring down at him, anger and distraught tearing at her as he quietly looked at her back.

"I'm not Zaabit," he gritted his teeth. "Zaabit had a grading system. I'm not planning on following his rule." Grading system? She didn't understand. Upon seeing her look, he sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "He never laid a hand on us…" she didn't understand, Zaabit was a monster, how can Bakura even say that…? She then realized, she didn't know anything of Bakura's time during the five years or his time with Zaabit. Meeting Nephthys, Saa and Magda should've been a clear indication of that. It suddenly made her sad thinking she knew so little of Bakura. "He raped and had sex in front of us, the older ones did the same, there were no rules against it, it's how most of the orphans learned sex, they got curious, and others were horrified. I kept to myself because I knew what kind of man he was. He was an authoritative figure, he mentally abused us, made us think he had all the power, we had to do our best and when we didn't we got beaten." He became quiet as he looked to the side, "Worst part about it? He didn't beat us. He had one of our own, the better ones do it and they'd do it…just to please him. If you were a girl…he'd have you raped."

She never knew just how bad it was with Zaabit. Everything he saw, everything that happened, it was brutal for a child. While she had to live with her father's sickness, trained and got accommodated in a new area but he had to live in a nightmare even after already witnessing the destruction of his village. Why did the gods make him suffer so? She reached over and pulled him into a hug, wanting to take away his pain.

"It never happened to me, I didn't participate," he frowned as if that meant it didn't affect him, but she knew it did. "Khenet, I didn't rape anyone."

"Bakura!" she shouted, and he became quiet. Did he think she cared about that? She knew he didn't. He never hurt her, he always was patient with her, sure he got rough, she bruised, but never had he forced his way over her. He always made sure she wanted to do it and when she didn't, he dropped it if she persisted or he'd persuade her, that's how he was. She knew he wouldn't hurt anyone else. "That's not what I'm saying. Bakura…you've been hurt and I just want to take the pain away."

He smiled and leaned his head on hers. "I'm alright. I'm not going to be like Zaabit. I'll show them my power and so long as they stay in line I'll be nice to them… for the most part," he chuckled.

"Is making a band really that important to you?" she asked, she still didn't like the idea, but he seemed set on it. The least she could do was be supportive. She should trust that Bakura could handle it and that Diabound was there to protect Bakura when she wasn't (not that she actually had yet, disappointingly).

"It's something I want to try," he told her. Sighing, she leaned back down on him, resting her head on his chest.

"Then I guess…" she looked up at him and smiled, "I'll support you!"

"Really?" he asked, amused.

"Yes," she said, not entirely certain but she would trust him. He always seemed to have better judgment than her. "So how do we go about doing this?" she rested her elbows on his chest and began to swing her legs in the air. "Do we post flyers with the words 'thieves for hire' or 'calling all thieves'!" he laughed as he took her hands in his and kissed them, her fingers and palms.

"Most thieves don't know how to read," he reminded her. Realizing her mistake again, she frowned. She kept making that mistake, assuming people could read just because she could. "I know just the person."

"Who?" she asked, taking his hand and bringing it closer to her mouth as she felt his wiry fingers then licked at his fingers, biting lightly and sucking on them. He watched her for a while, seemingly amused. "Who can help?"

"Magda," he replied, kissing her forehead. She pulled her mouth away from his hand. She became quiet. Magda had been looking for Bakura too this morning. He stole secrets. That's what he said; he seemed a lot more patient and nicer than the others. Was he good at persuading? He must've been otherwise, how did he get people's secrets.

"I saw him," she told Bakura who sat up, pushing her aside and looking a bit annoyed. "He knows your secret…about Zaabit. He was asking for you this morning."

"Why didn't you say anything?!" Bakura asked angrily, practically shoving her aside as he scooted off to the side of the bed. "Where did you see him?" offended, she moved off the bed indignantly and picked up her dressed and shooting him a look. Well! She would've said something but he had come riding like some prince and asking for sex, the hog. Bakura quickly tied his shendyt over himself while she sulked, trying to find something to wipe herself. He looked at her, staring as she frowned and lightly picked at her dress that she held in her lap.

"What happened?" he asked, staring at her, apparently noticing something was wrong. He came over to her and caressed her face when he saw the look on it. She didn't really know what to say so she just told him of her run in with Saa and Magda. He frowned and took her by the shoulders. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Y—yes, I am fine. I was just a bit frightened," she was glad to see he was concerned for her, it made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. He kissed her hands before helping put her dress on inside out then he grabbed her hand and pulled her along outside. "Uh… are we going somewhere?" He didn't answer but he took her through the marketplace. He looked around as if searching for someone. She hoped he wasn't trying to find Saa or Magda but mainly Saa. She didn't want to see that disgusting man. She spotted Magda shopping for some fruit… Bakura must have spotted him too as he marched them straight towards the tall man.

Magda thanked the seller and turned around but was met with a punch to his face. He fell over backwards and looked up, surprised to see Bakura. Meskhenet was huddling behind Bakura and looking around. No one seemed to care that something was probably going to go down; then again this was probably normal for them. Magda got up and dusted himself, picking up his basket of fruit.

"Hello, Bakura," he said a bit wearily. "I suppose I deserve that. I was not aware you were home," he looked at Meskhenet, and she knew he was implying that she had lied to him. She merely frowned at him.

"I wasn't until just moments ago," Bakura replied, though she was quite certain it must've been a few good hours. "We need to talk." Meskhenet didn't like this one bit. She huddled closer to Bakura, Magda gave her the vibe of Zaabit, and perhaps it was the way he talked. "There's something I'd like to ask of you."

"I have something to ask of you as well," Magda replied, standing up and rubbing his face. "Perhaps in a quiet area?" he suggested. Meskhenet grabbed Bakura's hand tightly, and Magda turned his gaze to her, looking down at her clothes and apparently realizing what they did not so very long ago as his eyes traveled to her hair. Blushing, she buried her face in Bakura's shoulder, averting her gaze from the thin, tall man.

"It'd be best at our house," Bakura suggested, causing Meskhenet to snap her head up. In their house? No! She didn't want anyone knowing where she lived especially not a thief! She nudged Bakura's arm only for him to ignore her.

Magda laughed, seeing her reaction. "She does not trust me nor do I her." Yes, that's right, she didn't trust him.

Bakura turned to Meskhenet and she looked at him then at Magda. Bakura placed his hands on her shoulders. "I need his help, love," he told her like that made everything better. She bit her lip and glanced at Magda, still not happy with that idea. He turned his attention back to Magda. "Next time grow a backbone and actually try to stop Saa. Where is he by the way?"

Magda shrugged like he didn't care. "Probably headed to the brothel," Bakura let Meskhenet go and started walking away. Magda quickly said, "Wait!"

Just then, Meskhenet grabbed Bakura's hand, and he looked at her. "Don't go!" she said frantically as she gripped his hand tightly. She didn't want to be with Magda! She didn't know him, even if Bakura said that Magda was weak, that was years ago! Magda could've become a better thief now, right?

"Show him to our place," he said to her, and Magda looked a little frightened at that idea. "She doesn't bite." He added to the tall man.

"Wait…" Meskhenet couldn't believe him. He was really leaving her in the hands of Magda?

He stroked her face and smirked. "Don't worry; I'm just going to pay Saa a visit. I'm not going there for anything else." She wasn't worried about him going to the brothel. She was just concerned of why he was leaving her with Magda. She looked at Magda, and Magda looked at her. Didn't some days ago Bakura told her not to trust Magda either? He wasn't really going to leave her with him, right?

Bakura ran off. He _was_ leaving her with him! She couldn't believe it. Magda approached her and smiled. "Shall we get going?" he led the way, and she slowly followed, keeping her distance. He led her straight to her house, wait…he knew where she lived? He opened the gates and she quickly ran over to her house, thankfully he kept his distance and she did too. She wasn't going to enter her home until Bakura came back. She was going to stay near the horses in case she needed to make a run for it.

They stood there awkwardly in silence, and Magda looked at Kek. "May I?" he asked but she didn't respond. He didn't move so she gave a small gesture and he went over to Kek, petting the black stallion. "I used to have a horse like this one…" She didn't say anything.

She sighed, what a lousy way to spend a day off. Bakura owed her tomorrow and she'd make sure he'd pay. She crossed her arms, and Magda looked at her. "So how can you help?" she asked irritated.

Magda looked around. "Ah… I cannot really say… I do not know what he wants of me"

"And yet you agreed?"

"Where do you work?" he asked out of nowhere, ignoring her question. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to let him know but regardless if Bakura said it was alright, she wasn't going to tell. She didn't say anything so Magda continued. "I see you ride out every morning towards Thebes."

"Where I work… is not really your business," she stated, looking down at her feet. Her staff was inside, she could get it and use it… He looked worried at her statement, but it was irritating her. She didn't know what was going on. She hadn't seen Bakura in days and after having an intimate moment with him, she was here with Magda, unbathed, still a little distracted and annoyed by Bakura and Magda.

"Thebes… can be just as dangerous as Deir El-Medina. You should be careful," he warned. She wondered if he was threatening her, but it didn't seem like it. Suddenly, he changed the subject again. "So you are a magician…"

"And you… a secret stealer," she retorted. He laughed at that.

"Ah, I guess you can say that…"

"You blackmail people?"

He shrugged. "Yes… it is how I work. Everyone has secrets," he walked over to her, but she took a step back, and he stopped. Why was he coming this way? She narrowed her eyes at him as she placed her hands behind her, readying a spell should she need one. She needed her staff. "Some have more than others and others less than some. What are your secrets?" he whispered, leaning near her.

She laughed bitterly. "Why would I tell you my secrets?"

"So you have some?"

She thought about that for a moment. Did she have any secrets? She hadn't kept anything from Bakura, though she realized she never did tell him about the black book but it wasn't like she was keeping a secret, it just sort of slipped her mind. She made a mental note to tell him later, maybe tomorrow. The only secret she was keeping was from Magda, about her working at the palace.

"I have… one," she hesitated. He looked somewhat happy.

"I would love to know this secret?"

She laughed. "Oh, if you try to exploit my secret, I will exploit all of yours!" She didn't really mean that, the worse she would do was use magic against him but she didn't like him asking for her secret, acting all friendly and it really, really bothered her of why he was here!

He seemed surprised at her answer as he moved away, but suddenly he burst out laughing like it was funny. She looked around. Maybe he went crazy, maybe it was time for her to run… but he continued to laugh for a long time until he stopped, holding his stomach. "I think I understand why he likes you."

"No, I don't think you understand at all…" she inched closer to Bakari who was twitching his ears between her and somewhere else.

Magda shook his head. "Alright, I see. I will not ask for your secret. I would not like it if you knew mine."

"I guess we have made our first agreement." She said, perking up when she spotted Bakura coming through the gates, relief washed over her. She hoped he was going to send Magda away, unfortunately when he finished closing _and_ locking the gates. He turned to them he looked annoyed.

"Why are you standing out here?" he looked at her, and she didn't really know what to say. He walked over to the front door. "For someone always nagging about etiquette, it's rather rude of you to make him stand outside."

Nagging? She didn't nag! She gave him an angry, look but he ignored her completely. The nerve he had! He opened the door and walked in, Magda hesitated but she angrily gestured him in before following after only for her to quickly turn around to put Kek away. She led Kek to the stall next to Bakari and started to untack him. Nagging? Ugh, is that how he saw her? He was the rudest person here! She slammed Kek's saddle on the wall that separated him and Bakari. Bakari warily moved away from her.

She needed to make some friends at the palace and hang out with them while Bakura was hanging out with _his friends!_ She petted Kek who snorted at her. "And what do you think of your rider?" she muttered to Kek who shook his head when she tried to remove the reins but the horse was just too tall. "Isn't he… just so infuriating?!"

"What are you doing?" Bakura asked as he came out of the house. She glared at him. He walked over to Kek and took off his reins like it was easy, putting them aside. "I thought you stopped talking to yourself."

"I wasn't talking to myself," she replied indignantly, petting Kek's muzzle. "Kek and Bakari happen to be better company than _some_ people. At least when they come home, they respect each other"

He didn't look like he understood. She could see though that he was getting angry. She didn't care since she was already infuriated by him. "I'm not disrespecting you. You said you'd support me now get inside so I can explain."

"Get Magda out of the house. I don't want him here," she crossed her arms. Bakura glared down at her.

"No, I need him here for a while. He'll leave when we're done."

"Get him out."

"Are you really going to do this now?"

"I waited for you to come home!" she shouted. Kek whinnied and moved closer to Bakura who placed a hand on his horse's neck. Bakari was getting restless. "I waited almost two weeks! I thought I could spend time with you o—or enjoy my days off but instead I run into that freak!" she pointed to the house, referring to Magda. "And the other one too! And after just a moment of ecstasy, you are so much more inclined to be spend your time with this thief business than me!"

"I fail to see your problem," he said annoyed. _Argh!_ She balled her hands into fists, anger rising within. He probably thought sex was all the time she needed from him, but it wasn't. That seemed more like for _him_ than her. She shook her head and walked away. He followed after her. "Magda isn't going to be here long. We can spend time after that."

"Oh, that makes _everything_ better!" that actually would have made everything better but she didn't want to let go of her anger. Magda came out and stood in the entrance, scratching the back of his head.

"Should I leave?" he asked nervously.

"No," Bakura replied.

"Yes," Meskhenet interjected. Bakura turned to her, glaring but she just glared back at him.

"We'll finish this later," and he walked back into the house. "Get in here." Ugh! She stalked over there, and Magda quickly moved away like she was going to hurt him. She slammed the door close behind her. "Go fetch some wine or water."

She didn't move from the doorway, rather she crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Magda looked really nervous, "Maybe I should just go…"

"Sit down!" Bakura said, and Magda quickly took a seat at the dining table. He gestured for Meskhenet to go to the kitchen, but she didn't budge. She looked at Magda who was looking at his hands. "Khenet, go an—"

"Get it yourself!" she snapped and ran off to their room. She didn't care that Magda was there or that she was acting childish. She closed the door and went over to their bed, dropping down onto it. She didn't know who Magda was or Nephthys or Saa but they all were connected to Zaabit and she didn't want Bakura getting involved with anything that had to do with Zaabit. Couldn't they do this without his 'old friends' help? Magda and Saa had given her a fright back at the alleyway; maybe that was why she was mad. Or perhaps the real reason she was upset was the fact that Magda and the other two were a part of Bakura's life that she never was… they seemed like they knew each other well and despite not seeming to like one another they had something that made them similar: they were all thieves. And she? She was a shepherd's daughter turned servant…she'd never have what they did and despite not exactly wanting it, she wanted to be as much a part of Bakura's world as she could.

 _What are you doing?_ She didn't really know why she was mad, _Jealousy perhaps…_ , sighing, she pushed her thoughts away. She should probably apologize to Magda and Bakura but she didn't want to. She rolled onto her side, grabbing a pillow and placing it on her head. She must've still been exhausted from her days at work because she fell asleep shortly afterward.

She woke up when she heard the door open, but she was too tired to move. Someone (most likely Bakura) sat down at the edge of the bed, removing the pillow from her face. There was a long moment of silence before she felt his warm hand move her hair out of her face. "Did I upset you?" he asked. She didn't look at him.

"Hmm…" she thought about it. Did he really upset her? It was more the timing and situation, not really him. "No…"

He was silent. "Did I hurt you?" she turned to him and raised an eyebrow. He was looking at her seriously but he didn't look mad. She shook her head, and he seemed relieved. He kissed her on the forehead.

"So what did he say?"

"He's going to help me," Bakura replied, scratching his hands. She frowned. "I'm trying to become the King of Thieves." He already told her that. It still bothered her that he was making a band, no, no, she needed to be supportive of him.

"Why?" she asked. She couldn't understand what was so great about being King of Thieves. People will know him and fear him and what…? "Why do you want to be King of Thieves? You're a king to me."

He shook his head. "I told you, it's like being the Pharaoh except of having priests and servants, I'll have other thieves."

"But do you really need that? I know you explained but… you're good enough on your own…" she didn't really want him running around with other thieves, she knew she said she'd support him but she just couldn't help but feel horrible about this idea.

He shook his head and placed a hand on her waist. "It's not that simple, Khenet, having other thieves is quite beneficial. For one thing, more gold can be taken, I'll have other people to do my dirty work," she looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Sell our goods, I mean. It'll also help with the guards." She wasn't sure how to feel about this. It was like… an underground of Egypt, the dirtier side of it. Didn't that mean it would be more dangerous for him? She gave him a concerned look, but he smiled at her. "Don't worry, Khenet, I know what I'm doing."

"And how is Magda going to help?"

"Spread the word; gather some other thieves for me."

"I don't like the sound of it, Bakura…"

"Khenet, I know what I'm doing," he reassured her, but somehow she thought he didn't. She merely smiled at him. "How is your work?"

She laughed a bit. "Oh… busy… are you hungry?" he shook his head.

"Is that all? Busy?" he raised an eyebrow at her. She didn't really know what to say about her job. "What do you do all day? You meet other people?"

"Hmm, well… I'm at the kitchen nearly all the time. We cook, bake, cut, clean and bring out the food. Some slaves work with us. Most of the servants in the kitchen are women," he seemed pleased with that. She scooted herself over so that she could lie her head on his lap. "We have to eat after everyone else and we have to cleanup. We get an hour break in between and… sometimes, we get special orders. Hmmm, oh! And I don't cleanup after dinner since I have to do priestess training…"

"You're still doing that?"

She laughed. Unfortunately, yes, she was still doing that. It had been on hold since her father's death. "Yes…I told you this, didn't I?"

"Yes," he said. "So you don't work with any men?"

Why did it matter? She hoped he wasn't worried that she was going to be unfaithful to him. "There are some men servants in the kitchen but not a whole lot… there's these two priests though… they come often to the kitchen. One's really scary and rude and the other… he's detached and aloof."

"But no one touches you, right?"

What kind of question was that? Perhaps because thieves had no morals or manners he would think of such a thing. Normal people wouldn't go around doing anything weird unless they were some sort of pervert, "Of course not!"

He smiled. "Good." He leaned over her and kissed her. "Are you hungry?"

"No," she smiled. "Magda's gone?" he nodded. "What time is it?"

"Night."

"Night?!" she shot up from the bed. Did she sleep the whole day? She didn't really do anything but sleep… she sighed. She wanted to spend time with Bakura but she would have to wait until tomorrow… it was late now. She didn't want to go back to sleep. "You should have woken me up earlier…"

"You seemed tired," he said, pulling her closer to him. "Take a stroll with me."

"To where?" she asked as he shrugged, kissing her.

They walked around the village that night and returned home after bathing. She was glad he was back. They spent the night together and when she awoke, she was for once on the edge of the bed; his arms were around her waist while her back was to him. Their bodies still felt hot from last night, but looking at him he looked so at peace now which was good, he usually had nightmares. She looked down at her nether regions and blushed, sometimes she thought she was so stupid, going out to bathe and then having sex right afterwards. Tomorrow she would need to go back to work. The thought of it made her feel tired.

What day was it anyway? She moved his arms off her waist and slipped on her dress. She went over to her library and checked the calendar. It was around the second week of the New Year. She and Bakura had been together officially for a few months now. She should do something nice for him, make him dinner or breakfast. No, no, she should make him dinner, that was more romantic? Breakfast was too short of notice for her, she didn't know what to make with the food they had here.

She went over to the kitchen to see what they had. She took an apple from a basket but suddenly a knock came at their door. She went to the front and opened the door; Magda was there with a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. He looked rather nervous but when he saw her, the color drained from his face and he stepped back a bit. Was he afraid of her? She rather liked it better that way, least he'll keep his distance.

"Morning," she greeted cheerily.

"Is Bakura here?" just then Bakura came from behind Meskhenet, leaning on the doorway of the entrance wearing nothing but his shendyt. "Oh!"

"What do you want so early in the morning?" Bakura asked irritated as he took Meskhenet's apple from her and ate it. She frowned at him and left to go get another apple for herself. Magda looked around as if someone was listening.

"It seems some other thieves just stopped in town… there are soldiers scouting the area for them. I just wanted to warn you about the soldiers, I apologize for disturbing you," he bowed a bit before awkwardly leaving.

"Wait," Bakura called, and Magda fidgeted as he turned to them with a nervous smile. "Stay here with Khenet."

"No," Meskhenet said quickly, but Bakura shook his head.

"I'll be back in a bit. Magda, stay here," Bakura closed the door and pulled her into their room. She hoped he wasn't trying to sneak in something, a part of her though did hope that was what he was doing. To her relief and disappointment, he pulled a tunic from the chest along with a robe.

"Where are you going?" she asked, not wanting him to leave her with Magda again. It was her second off day and them having sex didn't mean they spent time together. He still owed her. He dressed himself and pulled her in for a kiss. "You're not leaving me alone today, are you?"

"No, there's someone I need to see." What was with all the secrets? She glared at him and pouted. He seemed to notice her look and shot her a look back. "I'll be back later."

"When?"

"Not long," he told her then paused before adding, "I'm going to see Saa."

"Saa?! Didn't you see him last night?"

He shook his head, pulled the door open and left, pushing passed Magda. She called after him, but he left without warning. Out of frustration, she threw an apple at him, which hit his back and made him turn around and glare at her. She thought he was going to come back, but he didn't. What did he need to see Saa again for? Did he not find the jerk last night? Sighing, she bit her lip and turned her attention to Magda who fixed his already perfect bag as he stood there like an idiot. Meskhenet frowned at him, and he averted his eyes.

Magda watched Bakura go before Meskhenet called from the doorway. "You can stay out there if you wish or you can come in," She swore to Ra if he tried anything, _anything_ she was going to burn him and summon her ka to obliterate him. He had already come in yesterday and he already knew where she lived. He seemed to be a very timid man; she could easily overpower him with magic (that's what she concluded). He hesitated but came in anyways, and she gestured for him to sit. "I'm sorry for my behavior yesterday." She sighed, her issue right now was with Bakura, if he trusted Magda she would trust him ten percent more than she did initially, that's right.

"Oh, no, it is quite alright. I cannot exactly blame you..." he sat down on the chair and twiddled his fingers as he looked around. "How long have you two been together?"

"A month or so," she said, eating her apple. She realized she was talking with her mouth full and quickly swallowed, blushing a bit embarrassingly, but Magda hadn't seemed to notice. Ugh, Bakura's habits were rubbing off on her. That wasn't good.

"Oh, did you know each other long? I mean… for the past three years after he left Tanis?" three years? So that would have made him… twelve when he killed Zaabit?! Oh, he did say he was with Zaabit for a couple of years… the thought of child Bakura killing someone was rather unsettling but she pushed the thought away and shook her head. He had his reasons.

"No… we met a year ago."

"Oh, so he did not track you down?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that? Bakura and I met by coincidence, he didn't track me down or anything. I found his horse and he went to take it back, Ammit, he pointed a knife at me!"

Magda laughed. "I am sorry. It was just… he did not talk about his family like everyone else but rather about you. It is rather… odd that he is with you now."

"The gods can be gracious," she said. "What of you? Are you married?" she didn't think it was rather nice of her to ask about his relationship status, but he was probing around her and Bakura's relationship.

He looked embarrassed and surprised but chuckled. "No. Most thieves do not marry… most thieves are without families. An honest man does not steal; he slaves away to society to make a living for his family."

She didn't know if that was true, but if she thought about it, didn't that make Bakura better than an honest man? Slaving away to the cruel and corrupt society seemed rather… stupid but then again a thief life didn't seem safe. _No, no, Meskhenet… conforming to society is not bad…_

Before she could open her mouth to speak, a loud knock came at the gates. Magda, comically, shot up from his chair and frantically looked around. It was almost as if he expected some soldiers to be after him. He looked around like he was on edge before he ran off deeper into her house. Sighing, she was about to go and tell him to leave but more knocks, louder this time, came at the gates. Some morning she was having, she stalked over to the gates and pulled one open and to her utter surprised Ahmed stood at outside her house.

No! What was he doing here?! Didn't he live in Mallawi? _No…he's a soldier at Thebes now. Ammit!_ "Wh—wha—Ahmed," she stammered, trying to hide her surprise. "It's, uh, a pleasant surprise."

"I would say likewise, but honestly I'm not at all surprised. Gamilla told me you lived here." He glared down at her, but his eyes trailed above her to look past her at her house. Gamilla? Why was he talking to Gamilla? "Have you seen a dark brown haired man, tall with a dark blue sky like scarf?"

"No," she said honestly. That must've been one of the thieves. "I haven't seen anyone."

"And where's your…thief," he didn't bother to say husband which bothered her. She faked a smile and was about to answer before he cut in, "It doesn't matter. One day he's going to screw up and wind up in the dungeons where he belongs."

"One day someone is going to get tired of yo—" she could feel the anger rising within but she was trying her best to keep it at bay. No, today was going to be a _good_ day before she headed off back to work. Ahmed, Magda, Saa, whoever in the Nile else wasn't going to ruin her day. "Never mind, if that's all you had to say then I guess we're done."

He finally stopped looking around her house and stared at her. He probably thought she was harboring thieves now. Well, just because Bakura was one didn't mean she was alright with all thieves. "You're aware you're having sex with a criminal, yes?"

"Wha—ugh!" she looked up at her hair, realizing it must've been messed up but who's to say it wasn't just bed hairs? "Oh!"

"Try to comb your hair next time, hide those bruises and put on underwear." He looked down at her neck. She touched her neck and chest and winced a bit while simultaneously moving behind her gate to shield her body from view. "Everyone knows those are from teeth." And without a goodbye or anything else he left. She closed her gates and kicked at it.

Oh! How humiliating, she hadn't thought to put anything underneath because she hadn't expected to see anyone on her off day. It was supposed to be just her and Bakura. Looking down at herself, she tried to see if she could tell that she had nothing underneath. Everything looked normal; she swayed her hips to see if any movement revealed anything, nothing. Was he just messing with her, the damn jerk? She hadn't heard anyone come in from behind; she jumped when someone laid a hand on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Bakura asked, seemingly amused as he was staring at her body.

She touched her hips, worriedly, "Can you tell if I'm wearing anything underneath?"

He quirked an eyebrow, "It's a bias question. I know the answer."

She sighed and stroked her curves. Ahmed was trying to mess with her, that's it, it still bothered her though. Realizing Bakura was home quite quickly, she looked at him, "You couldn't find Saa?" Bakura's eyes lingered on her body before he frowned and shook his head. "I left Magda at the house. Guess who was in town? Ahmed."

"You're ex-fiancé? Why is he here?" Bakura threw an arm around her shoulders and they both walked over to their house. "I thought we left all your friends back in Mallawi."

She shrugged, "No. Gamilla said something about seeing me in Thebes and I know for certain Hasana must've moved here. I guess he finally moved to Thebes." Bakura just grunted. Suddenly a loud crash was heard from their bedroom; both of them ran over to their room where they spotted Magda lying on the floor with the chair to their desk overturned. He was rubbing his head. "He's gone now."

Magda looked up at them. "Oh, yes, eh-heh, well, ahem, I think I should go now." He stood up and brushed his robe. The look on his face told her he was uncomfortable either by the situation or the fact he was in their room as his eyes kept darting to their bed which was unmade. Bakura seemed to notice his gaze and smiled at him tauntingly as if he was making fun of him. It took a while for Meskhenet to realize why.

"Still acting like some chaste man?" Bakura mocked Magda who frowned.

"Well, I would not say that. I just do not go around flaunting my…sexual activities."

"Oh!" Meskhenet said, laughing nervously, "No…that's…we just haven't done our laundry yet…"

Magda gave her a crooked smile before maneuvering around them. Ugh, how embarrassing, she had forgotten that she needed to do the laundry. Magda shouldn't have come in her room. There weren't any windows big enough to fit a person through in this house, Bakura apparently made sure of that probably because of his innings and outings at her previous house. And then Magda scurried away as if frightened by their room or perhaps simply disgusted. Neither one of them showed him out but by the sound of the door closing she knew he had left. Magda wasn't bad. He was nice. His timid nature was similar to Skylar's but he also seemed to be hiding something, but Meskhenet couldn't put her finger on it. Sighing, she put a hand to her face and went over to sit at the edge of the bed.

"I need to do laundry," she really didn't want to.

"That can wait," he replied. "I owe you a day."

She spent her entire day with Bakura which she was glad for. They went out to eat and then rode Bakari and Kek out in the desert. They went to the Nile and he told her his tale of tomb raiding while he was away. She told him the story about how the world was created, but he told her it was all a lie much to her disappointment. They were walking along the Nile on their way home when night fell. Meskhenet felt like she was forgetting to tell him something.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you there is this man named Aknadin," she said, and Bakura frowned at her.

"Who's Aknadin?" a hint of anger in his voice. She giggled at him.

She shook her head. "He's one of the Pharaoh's Court members."

"Isn't the Pharaoh dead?"

"Yes, but the Pharaoh's Court works for the Queen now, but anyway. Aknadin is a very nice old man; he said he used to talk to my father. He's very merciful and always corrects the other court members should something go wrong."

"Should I be worried that you are talking about this old man?"

"Yes, Bakura," she said playfully, taking large steps in front of him as he slowed his pace, frowning at her. "I am going to leave you for an _old_ man."

"You better not," he smirked, grabbing her waist from behind and pulling her back. She laughed as she struggled to get out of his grasp. "I don't like what is mine ending up in someone else's hands."

"Alright, I won't leave you," she kissed him. "No, I was talking about him because he has this eye, this golden eye in his left socket. It's kind of creepy! But it looks neat. It's one of the…" Bakura let her go and went quiet. She turned and looked at him. "Bakura…?"

"There are six others, yes?" he spoke up. She looked at him surprised. Was he referring to the Millennium Items? How did he know that? She hadn't told him. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her near him. "What about the other six items?!"

"T—there with the other guardians…" she didn't know why he was getting so angry, but his grip was really tight on her wrist. "Bakura, you're hurting me!"

He let her wrist go, but he looked angry. "Stay away from them." She didn't want to ask how he knew there were seven items in total. He was frightening her, she rubbed her wrist but he shook his head. He grabbed her hand gently and pulled her along. "Let's go home…" He took her home and went straight to bed without a word, seemingly lost in thought. She changed into her nightgown and crawled over him.

"Bakura…? Is something wrong?" she asked, quietly, worry creeping into her mind. He didn't say anything. He was lost in thought. She leaned down and kissed him, but he didn't kiss her back. She pulled away and rolled onto her side. "Goodnight…" she didn't get much sleep that night but when morning came, he was already gone and she had to get ready to go to the palace.

When she arrived at the kitchen, Undine instantly made her knead some bread then sent her to get some spices from the outside storage. She went to work absentmindedly and ended up pouring the wrong spices in the food which she got yelled at for. Last night's event kept playing in her head. How did Bakura know there were seven Millennium Items? It wasn't common knowledge. She only knew because of her father had worked for the palace… oh, it was all so confusing!

After lunch was made, Meskhenet was kneading some more bread when suddenly a girl came in the kitchen. Meskhenet didn't recognize her, but the girl was looking around the kitchen as if searching for something. The girl was wearing a scarf over her head and a plain white gown. She had a niqab over her face too, revealing only her pretty green eyes.

"May I help you?" Meskhenet asked a little nervously. Who was this girl? She didn't recognize those eyes as any of the other servants. The girl looked too young also…

"Oh, no, I was just wondering if you had any fava beans left?" the girl said quietly. Every time Undine passed by, the girl looked away as if she didn't want Undine to notice her. Meskhenet looked at Undine then at the girl. "I won't bother you in your work."

"Oh no, it's no trouble!" Meskhenet quickly left to the storage and picked out a jar of fava beans. She gave it to the girl who thanked her. Maybe the girl was a priestess or perhaps the princess? Oh no, if it was the princess she didn't greet her properly. "Um… is there anything else you would like… Princess?" she asked uncertainly. The girl's eyes widened in surprise before darting about the kitchen, she shushed Meskhenet. So she was the princess?! "I am so sorry for my rude manners! I—"

"Shh! It's alright. I'm not the princess," the girl said but she was looking around. She was acting odd; she must have been the princess! But her eyes… they weren't like the Queen's or the Prince's… "My name is…"

Undine came from behind the girl, her hands on her hips. "Taira," Undine said. The girl, Taira, turned around and laughed a bit nervously. "What are you doing here? If you need anything cooked, please, you are more than welcome to come and ask me to make something for you."

"Oh, it's quite alright, Undine," Taira tried, "I was ju—"

"Let me take that," Undine took the jar of beans from Taira who looked a little disappointed. "Did you want something made?"

"Oh, no, no, I just wanted to know if you had any fava beans, that's all!" Undine nodded but another servant called her over and she excused herself. Taira sighed in disappointment. Meskhenet looked around. Taira noticed her and removed her niqab. She had a pretty face, with her dark hair hanging loosely around her tan face, she smelled real nice too. "I'm sorry for the trouble."

"Oh, no, it's no trouble at all…" Meskhenet said. Taira smelled like cinnamon and something else, but it smelled nice. "I'm assuming you are not new here?"

Taira looked at her surprised. "Are you new here?" she asked.

"Um… something like that," she said sheepishly. She hoped Taira wasn't anyone important that she was supposed to remember otherwise this encounter was going to be incredibly embarrassing to her.

Taira smiled. "Well, it's nice to meet you. I am Taira and you are…?"

"Meskhenet," she replied.

"Oh, like the goddess?" Taira giggled, and she nodded. "Well, it is good to meet you, Meskhenet. If you can, do you mind saving me some fava beans and cumin powder?" she looked back at Undine. "Without Undine noticing…"

"Oh, of course, I'll put them in the outside storage if you'd like. Undine doesn't go there." She beamed at the pretty girl. Taira was considerably younger than herself, if anything she was around the Prince's age, but somehow talking to her made her feel at ease, like she was talking to one of her childhood friends. Speaking of friends…she really needed to find where Maat lived.

Taira beamed at her. "Thank you! I must be going now," and like that, Taira took off. Meskhenet wondered if Taira was Undine's daughter or niece. She didn't look like Taira at all though. But Meskhenet shook her head. When the servants had their break, everyone took off like usual and Meskhenet went to organize the outside storage, putting the fava beans and cumin powder onto a table. She came back after some minutes and to her surprise there were some papers on the center table. She looked around, there wasn't anyone there.

She went over to the papers and looked at them. She was amazed! It was a sketch of a village, perfectly aligned and neatly designed, with precise lines making up squares and rectangles into the forms of buildings, shops and awnings. She flipped the paper and saw a sketch of a tomb with some words and traps on the next pages. There was a sketch of a sarcophagus; whoever drew these was an amazing artist.

Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her. She whipped around and to her complete surprise, Amon stood behind her, looking down at her. She leaned away from him but he leaned near her. "It is… not nice to be looking… at other's belongings." He talked rather slow and almost emotionless, but he had nice eyes and a nice shade of blonde hair. He wore a violet cape with golden earrings and robes of light tan and white. He had a medallion hanging at his waist, the Akhet Medallion. Right, he was one of the Queen's Guards.

"Oh… I am so sorry," she stepped to the side, and he straightened himself, looking at her. If he didn't want people looking at his stuff, he shouldn't have left it unattended. He slowly started fixing his papers. "Did you design those?" he merely looked at her. "They are very beautiful."

"There is always… room for improvement." He looked her over. "You are the new servant…"

Incredulously, she blinked at him. _New servant…? We met._ Did he not remember her from when Zaim took her here the first time or when he came in while Set was here? Perhaps not…she remembered him though. He was part of the Ishtar Household, one of the three magician households in Thebes along with the Re House and Hadiqa House. Clearing her throat, she forced a smile, "Yes, I am Meskhenet," she said a little nervously. He should've known her father…

"I did not… ask you for your name," he organized his papers. She patted her arms at her sides, looking around. She didn't know what to say. Wasn't it courtesy for her to introduce herself? He didn't seem to care. He didn't introduce himself though she already knew him from a year ago. "Those are… a nice pair of… shoes."

She looked at her feet. Why was he looking at her feet? It was rather odd but she merely smiled and said, "Thank you…"

He leaned near her, and her back hit the table when she moved away from him. _Ow!_ "They look… rather expensive for… a servant."

"What?" she asked rather surprised. Was he trying to imply something? She looked at her shoes. Oh no! What if they were too fancy for a servant? She didn't know where Bakura got these. "Um… m—my husband got them for me!"

He looked her in the eye. "I see all lies." She wasn't lying. Bakura had gotten them for her but she just didn't know if those were stolen. She hoped Amon couldn't read her mind. She was trying to inch away from him but her back was at the table. He moved away and walked out the kitchen. She sighed in relief. What a strange day…

When she got home, she was exhausted. Kek was in the stables so maybe Bakura was home. She wondered if he was alright. She entered her house, kicked off her shoes and went to her room. Bakura was sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the floor. He didn't seem to be there. He didn't greet her; she yawned and went over to the chest. "Hello…" she said rather quietly, but he didn't look at her. His silence was killing her. She pulled out her nightgown and then some natron. She went over to him, her dress to her chest. She poked him in the shoulder, and he looked up at her. "Did you eat anything?" he got up and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Bakura…?"

"Don't worry about what I said last night," he said and kissed her. Well, not worrying was rather hard when her husband seemed rather angry about the mentioning of the Millennium Items. Wait! Maybe he didn't like the palace because of the Items not because of the Pharaoh, right? The Pharaoh had the Millennium Pendant so maybe that was why he didn't like the mentioning of the Pharaoh. She remembered Ata asking Bakura…something about the tablet with the shape of the items, Bakura knew something…something connected him and the palace and Ata, and she didn't like it.

"Khenet?"

"Oh! Um, are you hungry?" she asked again. He shook his head. She realized she had forgotten to make him dinner last night. She should've made him dinner… "Did you already bathe?"

He smirked at her. "There's always room for more bathing." She punched his arm lightly.

"Of course there is," she shook her head and forced a smile.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm so sorry this has taken me practically a month to submit, I haven't been on my comp away. Anyways, Star Moriko has posted her story which is about Halima's daughter :3, you can check it out, it's called a "The Faithful Heart and the Longing Soul". Also, I tried posting a link to Meskhenet's pictures on deviantart but I guess we can't post links nowadays so if you want to see her refs, you can go to dA and go to Getsuei-san's favorites in 'my characters, adoptables etc.'.


	37. Chapter XXXVII: The Advice

Chapter XXXVII: The Advice

"You're not going to get anyone to follow you with that attitude," she told Bakura while sitting with him in a bar, sipping some water while he was drinking wine. He gave her a look that might have been menacing, but she played it off like she hadn't noticed. "I'm just saying, no one wants to follow an arrogant leader. Why do you think the Pharaoh's are stern, yet compassionate? Most of them are humble."

His eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "I'm a king in my own right. I'm not like that filthy bloodline." He turned away for her, waving the bartender for another cup. Ammit, that was like his third one. She didn't mind treating him out, but it was almost as if he was abusing her offer. She should've just got him beer. "People want to follow a strong and confident leader, not a wishy-washy loser."

"Confidence and arrogance are two entirely different things," she interjected.

"How did I get stuck with you?" he growled beneath his breath.

She gave him a smile, "Because you love me," she stated pointblank. "I like seeing you well fed but we haven't eaten and that's your third cup."

He glanced at his wine, "You offered. You practically _begged_ to take me out and told me I wouldn't have to pay a thing so if you wanted limitations on what I could and couldn't get, you should've mentioned it earlier. It's too late now."

She clenched her jaw. Stupid Bakura, she didn't raid tombs to get her pay! She worked, _worked!_ Meaning she had a limit. She cleared her throat and reached for her pouch, deciding it was their time to leave now. However, as if to spite her, Bakura flagged the bartender over again. Quickly, she took out the needed amount, slammed it on the table and waved the bartender off before glaring at her husband who went on drinking as if he hadn't done anything wrong.

"So how is Magda doing this?" she asked, "Is he just spreading the word that the Thief King is hiring or perhaps he is handing out briberies and blackmails?" she scooted closer to Bakura and began playing with his hair, humming a little. His hair was so nice, almost white and felt like fleece to her.

"I asked him to get me the best," he gave her a sideways glance. "What are you doing?"

She giggled and brushed his bangs. "You're the best, I don't know who else he is going to get."

"Hmm, flattery," he took her hand and kissed it before turning away from her to drink the last of his wine. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a blue scarf leaving the bar. _A blue scarf…_ Ahmed had mentioned about a man with such a scarf, another thief more than likely. She wondered if Magda was going to get him to join Bakura's little band. Frowning, she turned her attention to gaze out the open window before she spotted a flutter of wings that she recognized. Glancing at her husband who seemed lost in thought, she slipped off her stool and looked back at the window.

"I'm going outside for a bit," she notified him which he responded with a careless wave. She maneuvered her way through the bar before stepping outside where her eyes were instantly drawn to the darter that sat at the edge of a roof. The night made it look like nothing more than a silhouette outlined against the stars. "Ata." She didn't need light to know whose bird that was. Her mouth became dry after saying his name. Balling her hands into fists, she opened her mouth to speak. "I'm not afraid of you…or you're magic. As long as I have him and…my master, I know I have nothing to fear from you so keep away." The darter stood there in silence and for a brief second she thought she made a mistake, but the creature squawked, ruffled its wings and took flight among the stars. The message may have got across; she only needed to remember though: Ata didn't fear her. He would be back, maybe not now or later, but one day…

"Hey, crazy woman," someone said from behind her. Startled, her body jolted before she turned around to see a scrawny looking crook wearing a turban and blue tattered robes, he had his hands tucked in under his tunic as he looked her over, "Move."

"Oh, sorry," she muttered, shuffling out of the way for him and a few others to enter the bar. There was a large man and a dark haired woman along with another man who seemed quite fit, but she didn't get sight of his face and then her eyes lied on Magda who was timidly following after the group that entered the bar. She blocked his way with her arm and moved in front of him. What was he up to? Was that ragtag group of thieves people he was recruiting? "Magda."

"Meskhenet," he tried smiling, but she didn't return it. She was still so unsure of this whole ordeal. Seeing she wasn't making much conversation, he continued, "Do you always talk to yourself at night?"

Not paying much attention to him, she shook her head. "Where did you pick them up from?"

"They are people, not animals. I merely ran into them at a nearby village." He frowned, "I must go inside."

"They will join?" she asked, standing in front of Magda who seemed a little exhausted. She heard a rumor about the Millennium Eye could read the thoughts of people, maybe she should ask Aknadin for help, no, she couldn't let anyone know of Bakura's…occupation. "I need to know that they're all on board."

"You should trust Bakura more," he said, trying to get around her. She wasn't going to budge.

Slightly offended, she placed a hand on Magda's chest. "I trust him. I don't trust you." She turned on her heel and went inside to see that Bakura was already speaking with the thieves. She shyly went over to his side and subconsciously placed a hand on his arm only for him to roughly pull away, shooting her a glance. _What was that?_ Did he not want her here? She caught the gaze of the dark haired woman who offered her a smile. She seemed elegant with stormy gray eyes and hair that reached her knees in long straight waves, she held herself a few distance away from the large man which made Meskhenet realized that their men probably wanted to deal this one themselves. A little frustrated, she told Bakura she would be going before stealing a glance at the scrawny man and then walking away, passing Magda on her way out.

It wasn't too long before the black haired woman came and joined her outside. "Hello," Meskhenet tried to the woman, her eyes trailing the length of her dress which was quite fancy, light tan with a golden hem and an off shoulder neckline that was sparkling gold. She didn't wear any jewelry though. She didn't need any; the atmosphere she gave off made her somehow very…pretty on its own.

"You are close to the Thief King?" the woman asked.

"Yes…we're…" she didn't want to say married because she wondered if the thieves would judge him for being married. Didn't thieves just went to brothels or had harems? Would it be too domestic for Bakura to say he was married? Sadness filled her heart at the realization of the image she had to carry for him. "We've known each other for a while."

The woman seemed to notice her somewhat lie, but said nothing. "It is hard trying to be there for them when they have an image to present. It will get easier. I am Nailah," she offered a small bow.

"Meskhenet," she rubbed her arm, biting her lip. "Could you just…keep it a secret for now, the Thief King and I?" The woman nodded. She had no reason not to doubt that the woman wouldn't keep her word. She didn't know her though, and she chose to be weary of strangers especially thieves. "Are you going to join?"

"It depends," Nailah responded, closing her eyes and folding her hands in front of her.

"On…?"

"We need evidence to see just how good this… 'Thief King' truly is." And as if on cue, the large man came out of the bar, a drink in hand. He seemed rather happy as he placed a hand on her back and led her away. Nailah gave a small nod before disappearing in the night. Meskhenet looked back at the bar, but decided against going in to speak with Bakura. She wasn't part of this world.

When she got home, she cooked up a meal for herself and retreated to her little library but upon entering she spotted the darter at her desk with the Black Book opened, lying flat atop to a page filled with writings, her writings. She froze, her heart thumping lightly, she thought he got the message, maybe not… a chill ran down her spine and she realized that maybe Ata was here. _No, no, no!_ She lit a fire in her hand, putting her food down at the floor as she checked her room, nothing and same for the middle room, empty. He sent his bird for a message to her and it lied in the book. Going back to her study, she kept the flame lit but as she approached the desk, the darter flew off, leaving the book behind.

"What do you want…?" she mumbled to herself as she picked the book up. It was stationed at a page that talked of the human body, the compounds it was composed of, where each organ lied and how the blood flowed to the veins. She didn't understand, why this page? Angrily, she slammed the book shut and threw it on the floor. "If you're trying to say something, I don't understand."

"Who are you speaking to?" a voice asked behind her, making her jump as she whipped around. Bakura stood there, looking vexed as he came walking towards her. "You took off."

"You didn't seem to want me there," she replied haughtily, ignoring his question. She brushed passed him and picked up her food. "I thought of going back, but thought it was pointless."

"You wanted to take me out to eat and you took off back home," oh, right, she forgot she told him that. Whatever, she decided, if he was hungry he could just steal dinner, she wasn't going to pay for anything now.

"Offer ended a while ago, I never specified a time and you should've asked. It's too late now," she mocked, retreating to her room and going over to her bed, crossing her legs and taking a piece of bread in her mouth. He didn't look happy about that, but he followed her to the bed, sitting next to her. "Are they on board or not?"

He took her bread and began eating it. "They want proof."

"Of what? You need proof too, to see that th—Bakura! Get your own food!" he snatched her apple from her plate, along with a large portion of her fish, leaving her nothing but her grapes and her cooked sliced onion.

"I am." He said with his mouth full, "What is yours is mine."

"No! Ugh!" she reached over for her fish only for him to stuff the whole thing in his mouth. She stopped trying and went to sulk while eating her onion slices. "What do they want? The woman, Nailah, said they wanted evidence."

"I'm going to Heka's tomb," he took a large bite of her apple. _Heka?_ She snatched her apple back and pondered for a moment. "Some of them are coming with me. It's a race of sorts to see who can get the Eye of Heka. If I get it first, they'll follow me, if not…"

"Heka has no tomb," she said, nibbling on her apple, lost in thought. "Osiris is the only one who was a tomb…unless you're talking about Heka the Magician."

"Hm hmm."

"No!" she protested, realizing what that meant. "Heka was a powerful magician in the times of Pharaoh Narmer. People believed his magic rivaled that of the gods and he so arrogantly proclaimed himself as Heka, the god himself. His tomb is riddled with all sorts of magic, it's not even known to the common man. It's too dangerous!"

"Don't stop me because of your pitiful housewife worries. I am a thief. I can steal whatever I want and I've been doing this for years. Traps were made by men meaning there are gaps in every plan, it is only a matter of finding those gaps."

"You're a fool. Without a powerful magician, you won't be able to get through, let alone find the damn place," she glared at him. Why did he not consider her worries? She didn't need him dead! She needed him here…without him, what was she? She got up from her bed, threw the apple at his chest and ran off outside. _Curse him! Ammit!_ She kicked up sand and dirt and sat down outside the house. She felt icky, sad, angry and all at once confused. Wasn't life supposed to get better now that they started anew? "I guess not…"

"Get back inside," Bakura told her from the doorway.

"No," she refused stubbornly. He went to sit beside her, handing her apple back to her only for her to shove his hand way. "I don't want you here. Lately everything with you has been sex, gold, sex, and then and then and then you always leave."

"I told you this house was yours…" he muttered.

A fire burst inside of her, she snatched the apple and threw it at him again, this time as hard as she could, watching it roll to the side while he shot her a glare. "Then why marry me?! For Ra's sake, you should've just left Mallawi before ever meeting my father or—or better yet, before that! Why fool me like you were going to commit only for you to take off?! If you hadn't married me, look there wouldn't be commitment, oh! And you wouldn't have to hear me nag or complain or—"

He shot up onto his feet and approached her, looking angry as she became quiet; frightened he was going to hit her as she quieted down and flinched. "Damn it, Khenet! You know why I did all those things. You knew I was a thief! Why did you even think I was goi—"

"Get away from me!" she shouted, her heart beating wildly in her chest, not from love but from fear and anger and the rush of the moment. The same feelings she always had with Zaim whenever she spoke up against him. It was an irrational fear that the person she was angry at would turn around and hit her for yelling too loudly, for being disrespect, ungrateful… maybe she should shut her mouth. "I'm going to bed." And she walked off, but instead of going to her room, she went to her study and closed the door, sitting in front of it as she hugged her knees, looking at the Black Book across the room. That'd be the only comfort tonight.

* * *

She angrily grounded the grapes into a paste of purple pulp while Taira sat next to her, wiping down a plate she had washed. She had confided in the young girl of her husband's stupidity, leaving out many details but keeping the complaints the same. Sighing in frustration, she put the bowl down and buried her face in her hands. She felt a hand rub her back lightly as she sighed again.

"Perhaps there is a way for you to help him? You don't need his permission to help," Taira offered, patting the older girl's back. Although she had a point, Meskhenet didn't actually want to help Bakura raid a tomb this time because, well, she didn't want to make him seem weak in front of the others. She needed to convince him not to raid the tomb for his own safety.

"Maybe I can lock him up somewhere," she muttered, ruffling her own hair in frustration.

"Great Ra, no," Taira laughed, "That certainly isn't a way for you to get him to stop. You'll only upset him, and he'll probably be more inclined to ignore you."

Taira was right, but it wasn't like he wasn't ignoring her already, the stupid jerk. She sighed again and heard the door to the kitchen open, she expected to see one of the servants but was surprised to see Mahad. Oh no! She ducked below the table, somehow ending up hitting the bowl's rim and sending it flying across the room until it shattered against the wall. Taira turned to Mahad in confusion before looking beneath the table.

Meskhenet placed a finger on her lips, but it was too late. Mahad looked under the table too, he seemed surprised to see her as she sighed. Great, just the person she didn't want to see. She crawled out from beneath and stood up, sulking as she looked up at Mahad, brushing her dress before clearing her throat.

"Meskhenet, it is good to see you again," Mahad smiled, sending Meskhenet's heart in a pit of snakes. _Last time you saw me…I was a magician…_ he didn't seem bothered seeing her in the kitchen, rather he smiled when he noticed that she was with Taira. "I see you've met Taira."

"Oh, yes," Meskhenet smiled, "Um…"

"I wanted to see your welcoming," Mahad interjected, surprising the redhead. So he already got word of her coming to the palace, somehow the thought made her frown. Did everyone know? Maybe just the Court members, she hoped not everyone… "I was unfortunately preoccupied with another matter. I hope it went well and that you are adjusting to it." He paused for a bit. "I'm sorry about the loss of your father."

A twinge of pain struck her, but she pushed it away, "Thank you."

Taira cleared her throat, "Well, Meskhenet and I were just speaking about her love life."

"Oh, is that going well for you to?"

Talking about Bakura made her happy, but she needed to steer clear about Bakura being a thief. "I got married."

"Congratulations," Mahad chuckled, "I'm happy to hear that. It seems quite a lot of us are getting wedded lately." His gaze shifted to Taira who pretended not to notice. Oh, was Taira getting married? She was quite young; then again, a lot of Meskhenet's old friends had got married that young.

"One day it'll be your turn to," Taira teased, "But for now, Meskhenet needs our help."

"It's really fine, I can figure things out," well, no, she couldn't. She really didn't know what to do, her thoughts kept running to locking him up somewhere. Oh, maybe she could get some shackles from the soldiers' barracks. "He's annoyingly stubborn…"

"What is the matter?" Mahad asked concerned.

"It's rather personal…"

"Well," Taira started, "Her husband is heading off somewhere and she doesn't want him to go. He won't listen to her so she's trying to find a way to make him not go." After a little pause, she added, "She thinks the place is dangerous and is worried for him."

"Why not go with him?" Mahad suggested.

"He doesn't want me to," she answered before Taira. Normally, she'd probably feel hurt that he didn't want her to come along, but right now she was angrier with him than anything. Ugh, the damn jerk! "I really don't want him to go."

"Perhaps you can surprise him there," Mahad advised, "Once you're there, he can't exactly say no." The wheels in her head started turning and suddenly Mahad's words gave her an idea. Well, he didn't need to know that she came or helped. He couldn't say no to that. Oh! She gleefully clasped her hands.

"Oh, thank you all so much!" Meskhenet exclaimed much to the confusion to the two, "I think I know what to do." She saw Taira's hesitation so added, "No, it doesn't involve locking him up. I'm going to get this place cleaned up and head down to the library." She didn't wait for either of them to speak or stop her; she rushed in cleaning but made sure it was thorough before bolting across the palace grounds passing by the young prince and his sister along with Shada who apparently was teaching him a lesson about stones and bricks, but that was all Meskhenet heard before she made a sharp turn and nearly slammed into Halima, apologizing profusely and then running down the steps to the library where she found Erina organizing some scrolls in the shelves while a sky blued eyed teen was sitting at one of the desks, seemingly reading a scroll. He had black hair and wore a rather plain looking tunic, but nonetheless was adorned in gold like most of the nobles.

When Meskhenet reached the bottoms steps of the library, Erina turned, her shawl fluttered behind her green and white dress as she greeted the redhead with a smile. "Well, hello, it has been a while," she said, "Faiz, this is Meskhenet." The teen briefly glanced up, but went back reading. "He's very busy at the moment. I apologize."

"Oh, it's no problem," Meskhenet meekly said. She certainly wasn't here for socialization; she needed to find information on that tomb! She scurried off to a section in one of the backroom shelves that was designated for magicians of the Pharaohs.

"Can I be of assistance?" Erina asked politely, placing a scroll just above Meskhenet's head.

The library was packed full of scrolls which gave the place a horrible smell of papyrus, animal hides, new and old or rather ancient. But Meskhenet being the scroll reader she was had always been accustomed to such smells so it didn't really bother her. She debated on having the scribe help her but decided it'd cut time if she did so she turned to the older woman and smiled, "Yes, if it's no trouble at all, I'm looking for any information on the Magician Heka of Pharaoh Narmer's time."

Erina seemed a little surprised but she smiled, "Heka was such an odd fella. Well, let's see if we can some information." She skimmed along the shelves, going quite far from where Meskhenet was at, it was a good thing she had asked for help, who knew how long it would take for her to find information on Heka. "Heka…" Erina pulled a scroll out, but continued looking down the list of scrolls. Meskhenet came over to the scribe who handed her the scroll which she opened.

The contents of the scroll were written by Heka himself, and by Ra, he was so full of himself. Meskhenet frowned. He thought himself a god, trapped within the mortal body of a man. Despite his arrogance, though, Meskhenet had to recognize him for founding the Court of Magicians and establishing the rules of many of the forms of magic, discovering many spells and the like. _I wish I was that great of a magician…_ a thought crossed her mind as she looked at Erina who was beginning to pile some more scrolls onto the redhead.

"Who is the strongest magician today?"

Erina glanced at her, "You don't know?"

"Only by title, I mean… the Dark Magician, right?"

Erina nodded, "He… rather keeps himself hidden. It's rumored that he is stronger than Heka."

"Master Zaim said the same thing, something about him sealing half his power away, but I don't understand why? If I had that much power I'd change the world." She could've done so much good with magic, make the poor rich, when the harvest wasn't good, turn it into a bountiful harvest, and if war was at their land, she could obliterate the enemies without losing so many men to war; heal the wounded and cure the ill… _Ah, but Master Zaim said that magic wasn't the way of life even though magicians use it often. It couldn't cure Father…_

"You are correct to think that magic can change the world," Erina said sadly as she pulled seemingly the last scroll, keeping it within her hands, "But what change? The good or the bad? With so much magic, it can fall into the wrongs hands or worse, corrupt the ones it is already in. Magic is power and power hangs on a scale of morality. Without that morality, we risk going against the rule of the gods, we risk hurting more than we thought we could save. That is way the Dark Magician has sealed away half his power. That is way Heka, despite his hubris made the Court of Magicians because he even knew the rules of power, the rules of magic."

"Ah, sorry, you're right. We should leave what we can to the gods," she had to remember: Ata had tempted her on a path of dark magic. If she had the power the Dark Magician had, she would try to use it for good and probably just as well for bad. Sighing, she thanked the scribe before going to sit across the teen, Faiz who now was writing something on a scroll. She dumped the pile of scrolls on the table and the black haired boy looked up.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, catching a few scrolls that unrolled and nearly fell of the table. "Studying?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I was just trying to look up information on Heka," she said honestly, taking the scrolls from him. He was looking at her a little weird; if anything she thought he was checking her out but she doubted that. "Sorry for disrupting you."

"Oh," he scoffed, "If anything I need the distraction. I've been here for," he looked around as if searching for Erina, "Three hours."

"Goodness," she laughed, "Are you studying to be a scribe?" he kind of shrugged like he didn't really care. His penmanship looked good though. "I like your handwriting." He beamed at her, and she returned a gentle smile before taking a seat across from him and began unrolling each scroll and looking through .

Heka certainly was one of the most arrogant person Meskhenet had ever known or rather, read about. He bragged about his noble upbringings, how his peers were inferior to him, how his own family knew nothing about his greatness and how much wonders he could do with his immense magic. The Court of Magicians was founded shortly after he entered Pharaoh Narmer's Court and then the Academy of Magic was built, during the years more and more magicians came to the Academy as spells and the ka were discovered, some dark and some light. During his old age, he made the Chamber of Osiris where hidden was the forbidden spell most magicians desired for. He lived until he was one hundred and nineteen before dying peacefully in his sleep where he was then buried almost like a pharaoh in a place near the Valley of the Kings.

She frowned. That's it? Where was his tomb? Double checking every scroll, she desperately searched for the answer. Nothing, there was nothing! She wasted so much time reading all those scrolls and for what? She banged her head on the table in frustration as she threw a scroll across the room.

"Whoa, whoa!" Faiz said as he ran behind her and grabbed her shoulders, gently lifting her to stop that. "That's not necessary."

"Where is his tomb?" Meskhenet groaned, rolling his scroll up slowly in disappointment. Bakura knew where the tomb was, how? How did he know? She shot up from her chair, knocking it down. "I'm sorry," she apologized to Faiz who seemed a little confused. She took off to the stairs then stopped and used her magic to return all the scrolls to their perspective place before dashing off.

She rushed through her priestess training, paying little to no attention at all, using and abusing her magic to end it quickly when Halima left her on her own. After being dismissed, she took off home and ran straight into Magda, nearly running him over with Bakari. Magda wasn't exactly the person, she wanted to see, but he was the closest person to being the perfect person. He panicked and cowered on the floor like some fool while she soothed her brown horse.

"Easy boy," she whispered, petting his neck. The moon was out tonight, glowing brilliantly in the background making her horse's mane look lustrously shiny. She dismounted Bakari and marched over to Magda. He should know something. Magda stood up, brushing himself and acting like nothing happened as he cleared his throat. When he saw the look on her face, his turned to horror as he backed up. "Where is it?"

"Wha—what may I ask are you referring too?" he looked behind him as if searching for a route to bolt to.

"The tomb, where is it?" she demanded then thought that approach might've not been the best one. Sighing, she imagined containing a fire with her hands before clamping her hands over it and making it into smoke. Sighing, she dropped her arms at her sides, "Please, can you tell me where the tomb is?"

"I cannot," he replied quietly, shuffling ever so slightly away from her. She tried to contain her anger, biting her lip and opening her mouth to speak, but Magda beat her to it. "Bakura specifically told me that if anyone was to ask, I should not tell them and he also mentioned that if you were to ask, I should defiantly not tell you."

"Bakura said that?" she asked exasperated. Magda gave a faint nod. Oh, the jerk! He knew she'd ask. She debated on what to do, some kind of spell to make him talk? No, she didn't want to use magic on a person. "I'll be going now." She took hold of Bakari's reins and walked away from Magda. Bakura must have some map. Yes! That was it! A map! Giddy with joy, she pranced over to her house like a baby lamp until she reached her gates, pushing them open and leading Bakari to the mini stables before frolicking into her house. Oh, she hadn't even said goodbye to Magda, ah, well. "Bakura?" she tried, waiting for a response. Nothing.

Running, to her room, she went straight to the table, rummaging through the papers only to find that it had only hers on it. Quickly, she went to the chest, pulling out fabric after fabric: red, black, tan, white, violet, black, and then she pulled out his book—the one she gave him and lo and behold a stack of papers fell out. _Ah ha!_ She scattered the papers to see what they were, finding the map he made of Egypt which had some points marked in red which she assumed were places he had been to. Luckily, she found another map with the words 'Tomb of Heka' scribbled atop in Bakura's messy handwriting. He needed a better place to hide his stuff. She quickly ran to her desk, copied the map before running over to return the belongings to the chest.

With a silent opening, Bakura came in to see her folding his clothes back in the chest. For a moment, she thought he knew what happened, but he merely looked at her before moving to the bed, not bothering to change his clothes. "Welcome home," she told him cheerily, glad to have found the map. Now she could help him! And he didn't need to know! _What he doesn't know what hurt him!_ She skipped over to him, a shendyt in her hands as he flopped onto the bed. Whatever issues they had yesterday was 'gone' for now.

"Make me something," he told her while she swayed at the bedside. He seemed to notice her happiness; he narrowed his eyes at her and sat up. "What's got you so happy?" He took hold of her hand and looked it over, frowning a bit when he saw her fingers.

"Nothing," she lied, stopping to contain her glee. "Just glad to be home with you," she knelt in front of him on the bed and gave him a kiss, subconsciously dropping the shendyt in her hand. Then the thought of what Magda said tugged at the strings in her mind and she couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed. Bakura _had specifically_ told Magda not to tell her. She sat down on his lap, breaking the kiss, trying to hide her annoyance. He saw her discomfort but made no comment. "You should get some rest." He looked her over before lying back down, pulling her along with him to lie beside him. For a moment they stared at each other then he rolled onto his side, wrapping his arms around her. "I thought you wanted something?"

"That can wait," he hugged her tighter, breathing in her scent. He didn't say anything, but judging from how tense he was and how quiet she figured something must've happened. If she recalled he left with Magda in the morning, she and him had been in somewhat bad terms because the previous night, however she was willing to put that all aside since she found a solution to their issue. _I'll go to the tomb and disable the magic…most of it anyways._ She placed a hand on his chest and nuzzled up against his arm. "When you act like that it makes things difficult," he suddenly said which made her look up at him. What was that supposed to mean? Act like what?

"Excuse me?" She asked offended.

"Don't start it again," he growled. Start what? It was his fault last night! The nerve! She pushed at his chest but he kept her in place. "It's tiring to deal with your outbursts and everything else so just shut up for a while." She was quiet, though seething in rage as she silently lied there. He moved a hand off her waist to touch her face. Shifting her eyes to him, she shot him a look. He merely grinned at her, "You always look better smiling." That took her by surprise, she was expecting an insult but she had to remember: this was the man she loved and he was always free to give her compliments at awkward moments which he always did so at odd times.

She sat up which he allowed, moving a hand to his face, she gave him a slow kiss on the mouth which he returned equally slow before placing a hand behind her neck and intensifying the kiss. She broke away, "let me get you something to eat." This wasn't good for her stomach, the butterflies and the seething rage were all mixed up and now she wasn't sure whether to be angry at him or not. It would be nice to just be happy with him so she let it pass…besides once he found out what she was going to do they probably would be fighting then.

"That can wait," he told her again, kissing her again until he rolled on top of her, making her squeak momentarily. Her heart was all aflutter with butterflies in her stomach until warmth spread over her when his hand tauntingly moved from her neck to her rear. He grinned at her then moved down to kiss her body; she grabbed his sash and played with it before unraveling it to watch his shendyt come undone. He smirked at her, and she merely gave him a smile in return.

* * *

"Oh, you look so wonderful!" Maat flittered about as she gave Meskhenet a tight embrace. Her scarf fell off her shoulders as she quickly went over to Bakura and gave him a hug that made him stiffen. "It feels like it has been ages since I last saw you."

"It certainly does feel like that," she laughed. Last time she saw Maat, Bakura and her were just 'friends' and Maat had been passing through to get to Thebes. "Last time you told me your in-laws wanted grandchildren I believe?" Her eyes shifting to her friend's stomach to see a slight bulge, her breasts a little bigger too in size, she defiantly was pregnant.

Maat lowered her eyes to her belly, placing a hand over it with loving eyes, "Yes, Hu and I decided to have children."

"That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you," Meskhenet said in complete honesty. Maat would make a lovely mother; she was always the nicest girl out of the group. She wondered about herself though, of having children. She turned her gaze to Bakura who seemed rather bored of the introduction and talk. She thought of them having children, he ate like a starving dog and was vulgar and rude and she? She was insecure, temperamental and tempted by darkness. She wouldn't make a good mother and Bakura wouldn't be a good father.

"So when do you plan on having children?" Maat asked, looking from Bakura to Meskhenet. Bakura shot a look at her friend then at Meskhenet who became quiet.

"It's not something we're planning." He answered for the both.

"Oh?" Maat seemed a bit surprised. Instead of answering though, she turned to her husband who Meskhenet had never met. Hu was tall with light brown hair, long and hanging over his shoulders. Although he seemed kind, his also had the look of someone who was always dreaming or rather never there. He seemed a good match for Maat though. "Hu, why don't you and…" she paused, looking at Bakura.

"Bakura," Meskhenet filled in.

"Yes, Bakura, go and…buy some…"

"Apples."

Hu merely looked at Bakura then at Maat. He nodded ever so slightly before, with the grace of a crane, moved over to her to give her a kiss on her lips. Meskhenet thought that he was very romantic and wondered why Bakura wasn't like that at all. Bakura merely followed after Hu before stealing a glance at the redhead who sighed.

"Isn't he the same stranger from Mallawi?" Maat asked, grabbing Meskhenet's arm rather suddenly. Oh, so she recognized him…

"Yes," Meskhenet blushed. "I mean…he wasn't really a stranger. We met before…long story short, we married."

"I'm happy for you," Maat grabbed her friend's hand, "I really am." The hesitation in her voice told her otherwise. A chill ran through her body at the realization that perhaps Maat was disapproving just like everyone else. "But…is that really someone you want raising a child with?"

"…" Meskhenet pulled on her sleeves till they covered her hands as she bit her lip. "It's as he said…it's not something we're planning."

"But I'm sure with the amount of sex you have, it's going to happen."

Meskhenet shot her head up in surprise at that. "W—what?"

Maat laughed, "I'm joking." A breath of relief escaped the redhead's lips. For a moment, she thought that perhaps there was something about her that gave off that type of look. She didn't want everyone knowing the amount of intercourse she and Bakura had. That was embarrassing. "He does look like that type though." The two were walking through the streets of Thebes bypassing the many rich folk as Maat ran her hand across the many shops' items, touching jewelry and clothing as they came upon them.

Meskhenet pursed her lips and laughed a little, "Well, he has a certain look about him, that doesn't make it necessarily true." She felt like a liar saying that. She darted her eyes across the marketplace, looking for a topic to change the current one. "So what do you do at home?"

"Me?" Maat laughed, "I'm still sewing."

"For a living?"

She shook her head, "No," she placed a protective hand over her womb, "For Hu and for our baby." She stopped and looked at her friend, "What about you? Still going to become a magician?"

Meskhenet looked at her feet, sadly. "No…" Maat dropped her smile, her expression now that of concern. "I am to be a priestess… it was my father's last wish." The thought of her ill father made her heart drop and her stomach bubble in despair as she let out a sad sigh, but she felt warmth wrapped around her as she looked at her friend who embraced her tightly.

"I'm so sorry for your lost…I couldn't imagine what it must've been like," Maat said quietly. Hesitating, she returned the embrace as a tear rolled down her eyes. _No, no…I can't cry._ She hiccupped and took a shaky breath, "Everything will be alright… you just need to have faith." Maat let Meskhenet go and brushed her shoulders, "You've always been strong and now you're not alone."

Meskhenet wiped her tears. "Thank you…" she sniffled. She had never considered herself strong, not physically, not mentally, she was just Meskhenet.

Maat became quiet as she looked Meskhenet over which made the redhead feel a little self-conscious. Maat was taller, maybe prettier with gorgeous eyes lined with kohl, something Meskhenet didn't always wear. "You can still do it, become a magician." She beamed, "There is plenty of priests and priestesses who are magicians as well. Priestess Halima, Priest Mahad, Priest Amun," she counted her fingers as she named them, "Priest Kateb, Priestess Isis…"

"It already takes five years to become a priestess, adding on the rest of my magician training will prolong that and besides I wanted to be a court magician, not just a magician."

"You told me you wanted a title once," Maat wagged a finger in front of her, "If you learn all types of magic then being a court magician will be a cinch so why not? It may open more opportunities for you and it can be at least some comfort to your dream. You don't have to give up everything."

"But to get a title…" Meskhenet paused; she needed to discuss it with Bakura and Zaim. Zaim was her master, but Bakura was her husband. He needed a say in it too because getting a magician title was not an easy feat. She shook her head and smiled, "I'll see what I can do." The girls giggled before continuing through the marketplace until they ran into Hu and Bakura. Hu had a basket of apples in one hand while Bakura munched on one himself. He came right over to Maat and handed her an apple which she gladly accepted.

Bakura threw an arm over Meskhenet and offered her his apple which she accepted. "What are you ladies talking about?" he asked as Meskhenet nibbled on the apple.

"I'll tell you later," she whispered.

"Want to have dinner with us?" Maat asked, turning her attention from Hu to the two. Meskhenet nodded before Bakura could answer. She wanted to spend time with her friends before heading back home and besides, it'd be nice if Maat got to know Bakura

"It'll be fun," she assured Bakura before whispering something in his ear that made him smirk. "Lead the way." She couldn't help but feel the pit in her stomach swirling with discomfort and she wasn't sure whether it was the talk of children or magic, one of them was setting her off and it made her want to freeze up and stop everything. Magic... if she continued down that path, she would become more entangled with dangers she never knew but it might be just as beneficial for her in the court. She could use her magic to protect the queen.

Bakura nudged her, a little worried. "Khenet?" Shaking her head, she smiled at him before taking his hand and following the couple. Bakura's hand was so warm, like the desert sun glowing over an oasis; his warmth made her feel safe and loved. The opposite of Ata's cold hands... ah, why was she thinking of Ata? He was the past now. Whatever happened, she would face it with Bakura.

* * *

Author's Note: I really don't like this chapter, I mean certain parts I do but others no... I just needed a bridge over to Chapter 38 and I needed to show Maat and her encouragement of Meskhenet's magic. Anyhow, most everything of the magicians and what not is made up, I just added that they have titles and such. Mahad is known to be the strongest magician but no one knows his identity (or only a few do), Pharaoh Narmer is a real pharaoh that I found :) from long before this timeline. Next chapter, more magic, another encounter with Set and babysitting for Atem and Mana~


	38. Chapter XXXVIII: The Sand Cat

Chapter XXXVIII: The Sand Cat

Her priestess training had been going exceptionally well according to Halima. For some reason, being a priestess was more exhausting than being a magician. She did a whole day's worth of working in the temple, offering prayers to the gods, cleaning the idols and performing magical rituals to ensure their gods would continue to bless the earth. Meskhenet was reminded by Halima that priesthood was not a permanent job; they did these priestly duties for a month and then returned to their original professions. She was also informed that in order to enter a temple, sexual contact was not permitted during those times of priesthood. She needed to let Bakura know...

"That is all for today," Halima informed Meskhenet after they both prayed. "Tomorrow I would like to see your ka in battle."

"Yes...about that I have yet to explore my ka's power fully," she rubbed her arm uncertainly, but Halima gave her a warm smile.

"That is what we will practice. For now, you must rest for the coming day." It was a little odd hearing that from Halima, though she knew full and well that Halima wanted her in top shape, it wasn't something she made attention to. Seeing her expression must've told Halima that the young redhead was confused, "We will have a mock duel, though it is not a real duel, the pain that comes from the offense are very much real."

"Ah," Meskhenet nodded. A mock duel…she had hoped to have one with Zaim or perhaps her father, but Halima was her teacher now, it was only befitting for the stern woman to duel Meskhenet. Maybe she should ask Bakura for some pointers. "I will make sure to do so. Thank you for today."

By the time she returned home, she was exhausted and all she wanted to do was sleep. Sighing, she pushed open her bedroom door and trudged over to her bed, stripping off her gown crawling into the sheets, wrapping herself in them, not bothering to care to put her nightgown on.

"I think our first order of business should be to get ourselves a hideout," she heard Magda's voice, followed by the front door slamming shut. Frustrated, she sighed and turned to the entrance of her door. Damn, she left the door open.

"I've already taken the efforts of procuring a place," came Bakura's voice. "Khenet should be home."

"Do we need her?"

"No," Bakura's curt reply was followed by silence except for footsteps. He came in the room in his light tan tunic. He gave her a glance before trailing his eyes to her dress on the floor.

"I'm tired," she said simply. He said nothing, going over to her. "Are you and Magda discussing business again? Have the other thieves responded?"

"Neith and Seth are on board," he kissed her, his hand trailing down the opening in the blanket near her abdomen. She took his warm hand in hers and placed it on her cheek. "No response from the others. It was strange...though," he paused, looking at her intently, "The tomb wasn't as difficult as everyone said it would be."

"I guess that's a shame for you," she smiled, hoping he couldn't see through her lie. "I'm glad you are safe. I'm sorry for the other night, I overreacted."

"Hmm," he said as he looked back at the entrance. "Will you be home tomorrow?"

From the way his eyes were looking at her, she suspected he wanted something from her. "I have time tonight with some rest and once you finish your business with Magda." She replied, biting her lip when she saw him smirk at her. He gave her a long kiss before he left the room. Sighing, she rolled onto her back. She better get some rest. She had a feeling tonight was going to be a long night.

It was barely ten minutes since Bakura left before she drifted off to sleep. Her priestess training was really draining for her. Ah, she forgot to tell Bakura about the duties of a priestess, she supposed she would tell him when she awoke…

 _She awoke in a field of wheat with strong winds blowing the grass, back and forth; bending them with the slightest breeze, brushing passed her ankles and bare feet. No matter where she looked, there was wheat everywhere, the only thing else was the blue sky overhead. It was such a lonely place, yet she didn't feel alone._

 _She was standing in a white gown, plain and long with her usual slit on her right leg to allow her legs a little more movement. For some reason, her hair was tied in a braid and she was wearing the Akhet Dagger at her waist. She touched the Dagger, how long had it been since she last saw the Dagger? Some time when her father was still here… her heart ached as a squeamish feeling passed her insides._

 _She looked up to see the Black Witch floating in front of her, dreary black robes fluttering in the wind. She really didn't like her ka, so dark, so dreary… Diabound was beautiful, the Time Wizard amazing and Zaim's majestic, but hers, ugh, she could barely stand to look at it. She hoped as she evolved so would it._

 _"Hi," she reluctantly called to the creature that merely stared back at her with its mask. "We have a battle tomorrow. Are you ready?" No reply, what exactly was she expecting? The Black Witch was lifeless, unlike the other kas she met. Realizing she had the Dagger, she reached for it, "Maybe…" she pulled the Dagger and glanced at her ka, "If I could use this then you will speak, yes?"_

 _There was a presence in her mind, not unlike Volcanic Wings' except she couldn't make out what it was saying. Was it the Witch? Was it trying to talk to her, she hadn't used the Dagger yet. "What are you saying?"_

 _A strong gust caught her off guard, and she turned to see the wheat rushing towards her in waves as the winds picked up, she blocked her eyes to prevent anything hitting them. Vaguely in the distance, she saw something…a man robed in white with blonde hair. She couldn't quite make out his features but he had a staff. Was he a magician too? She didn't know._

By the time she could make out a voice, she awoke a few minutes before Bakura finished his business with Magda. And when morning came, she was somewhat happy, anxious and overall too busy day dreaming to pay much attention to anything or anyone, but when she had finished her work and was standing in front of Halima at an empty area somewhere underground near the palace dungeons, she finally put her thoughts aside.

The place felt a little too small and a little too suffocating that she was taking deep breaths the whole time she was down there. Halima stood on the opposite end of a large square ditch in the floor that led somewhere deep into darkness with no signs of an end. Meskhenet didn't want to think where that led, this was a prison after all so maybe that's where they dumped the bodies of the executed criminals. She shuddered at the thought, rubbing her arms. Halima wore a beautiful light blue kalasirus with turquoise and gold jewelry; her gorgeous dark hair cascading contrasted the light garments. Meskhenet wished there was a color that contrasted her hair, alas though, her red was a mid-color, and neither dark nor light would contrast it.

"Are you ready?" Halima asked her student.

Meskhenet nodded but realized the gap between them so called out, "Yes." She tried to remember what advice Bakura had given her during sex, however most of it had been lost in their intimacy and she cursed herself for it. Calming her breathing, she closed her eyes and thought of the Witch from her dreams, "Black Witch, come out!" From behind her, darkness rippled into view, swirling and whirling in a violet and black portal, as it continued to swirl the darkness turned to garments. It was the robes of the Black Witch who now floated behind the redhead, staff in hand, silent as ever.

She couldn't see the reaction of Halima from afar, but she thought she saw a look of disappointment which made her feel self-conscious. Would the court judge her for the dark ka of hers? Would they doubt her righteousness and goodness? She glared at her ka, angry at its form. She wanted a magician platypus like Tahir…a Witch Platypus! Perhaps she would head down to the library and see if there was any information on transforming one's ka to another form.

"Sand Cat, I call upon you!" Halima called and from the grounds of the squared arena came piles of sand, gathering together like some sort of magnet calling them forth until from the center top of the sand rose a form that slowly became etched with details of features of a feline body. Color appeared onto the cat just as its form became completely visible, its long pointed ears twitched to life while the stripes of its body were colored in by sand as if some artist had finished a paintjob. The sand didn't stop there; rather it began to build golden armor over the cat's body but never blocking its black claws that protruded out. Its lion like tail swayed with every second as its sharp eyes bore holes into any and all who caught its gaze.

Meskhenet caught her breath at the fierceness of Sand Cat. It wasn't exactly a ka she would call beautiful in appearance, but she felt the power and majesty from the mere look of the cat ka. It was almost like a perfect statue, guarding a house, guarding her master. _What power…_ how long she wondered, did it take to harness such power? Would she ever grow to be that strong?

"Let's duel," Halima said, "Sand Cat! Attack!"

The call for an attack took Meskhenet by surprise, she quickly asked her ka mentally to defend but the ka did nothing. "Block it!" she shouted in panic, her heart beat racing as she quickly turned to look at her ka that just barely dodged the tackle from Sand Cat. Her heart wouldn't slow down even after the attack was over except it wasn't, Sand Cat skidded on the arena's floor but made a sharp turn around to do a follow up attack, this time making contact with the Witch that was pushed over the gap of the floor.

"Defend yourself," Halima instructed, "Do not focus on the possible damage that might be done, rather focus on your offense and defense. Look for the openings in your opponents weak points such as your ka, you have left her wide open for another attack." And as if to demonstrate her point, Sand Cat growled before jumping into the air and slashing Meskhenet's ka in a cross like manner which sent her body shaking in pain as she felt the claws clawing at her soul. "This is a mock duel to prepare you for a real one. What should happen if you find yourself against a thief or murderer? What if they challenge you? Will you let yourself to fall as easy prey to them?"

She couldn't answer, it never occurred to her. Her battle against Ata had been mainly magic, he had summoned his ka but she hadn't fought it. She had just assumed every magician she would have to face would only attack her with magic and any criminal that came her way…well, she thought Bakura would deal with them. Facing Halima now, however, made her realize, those were foolish thoughts. Her father used to tell her that duels could happen to anyone, anywhere.

"Defend yourself!" Halima said again as the onslaught of Sand Cat's attacks continued. Halima was holding back, she could feel it. Sand Cat was merely pouncing and knocking the Black Witch down, barely making any scratches or wounds, still some of the attacks had knocked the wind right out of Meskhenet. Frustration grew inside of her as she tried to command the Witch to no response, fire raged within as each attack from Sand Cat landed until she screamed out in anger. Just then the Witch sent out a shockwave around its body, throwing Sand Cat into the walls of the arena, only for the Cat to swiftly land on its feet, kicking off the wall to step in front of its master. She couldn't think clearly, all she had was her wraith that chastised her every action, only furthering her rage. The Witch responded to this, sending a wind blast straight at Sand Cat who nimbly dodged the attack, countering the ice shards that followed. "Do not rely on anger. Keep your emotions in control otherwise you will lose."

It was hard to follow Halima's words as anger seemed to be the only command the Black Witch would listen to. It blasted all sorts of magic at its opponent, countering the attacks it faced, making up shields and defenses that lowered the blow of each attack. Meskhenet focused on her anger, thinking of Ahmed—a fire ball whirled over Halima's, exploding at the wall behind her. Amon—Sand Cat was thrown back by a defensive shield placed around the Witch. Ata—swords of lightning materialized and shot out everywhere. That ugly beast she saw in Ata's shrine—the Witch's robes caught fire as a tornado of sunset colors swirling around it, damaging and protecting all at once. The raiders who destroyed her farm—the walls were blackened from the dispersing fire. The crocodiles that killed Taymur—water shot out from the staff before Sand Cat grabbed it between her teeth and threw it down the gap.

"Anger makes you reckless," Halima said as if in conclusion just as Sand Cat followed up the assault with a blast from its mouth that sent the Black Witch wheeling backwards until it was on Halima's side of the field where sand left from the Cat's summoning suddenly burst out hands, clasping around the cloaked figure to drag it down into the sand where there was nothing in sight. However, Meskhenet felt the sand's grip on her soul and knew her ka was still there, if she was Halima's enemy she was sure the stern woman would've crushed her ka, wiping her from this existence.

All the anger that Meskhenet had felt disappeared and she was left with a feeling of emptiness and fatigue. It had taken all her energy and she hadn't even won the duel. She had failed. She had no more strength for her ka to be out so the Black Witch disappeared, she fell to her knees and Sand Cat dissolved back into the sand it had come from. Exhausted, she sighed and sat down while Halima made her way around the arena to see how she was doing.

"That is all for today. We will practice again soon," the older woman offered her hand to the young woman who tiredly took it. Rising to her feet, she bowed, no words exchanged as she was both ashamed and amazed of how much Halima could still be disciplined even in this situation. If it was Zaim, he would've blown his head off for her not listening to him. "I will send an escort to guide you home."

"It's not…" she had no energy to argue so she merely nodded her head.

To her horror, Ahmed was assigned to escort her back and he knew exactly where she lived. He led his horse in front of Bakari with them making no talk at all until they entered Deir El-Medina. "If you work in the palace, why not move to Thebes?" he asked her on their way to her house.

"I didn't want to…" she said in a low voice which she was surprised he heard her.

"Because Deir El-Medina is a village full of thieves like the one you eloped with?"

"I didn't elope," she responded rudely. "And it's a beautiful village with many noble tombs and intelligent women and—and we're a good distance from the Nile and Thebes, plenty of room for flocks an—"

"All tombs that have been robbed, all women who are content to live their poor lives here for the rest of their years, a good distance meaning two hours from the capital and quite the distance to go fishing which makes it all the more inconvenient for the common man," he turned his head to look at her with his judgmental eyes as she huffed and pouted. The nerve he had! She wanted to shoot him with a fire ball but alas she had no willpower to do so. "Of course, you do not need to worry of such things, what with your thief providing for you with stolen goods."

"I bought all my belongings," she started.

"With stolen money," he concluded.

 _For the love of Ra! What did I do wrong to you, you pompous, son of a jackal?_ She bit her lip and became quiet. Luckily for her, they didn't need to reach her house because Bakura was awaiting her return a good mile from their home with another thief that ducked low and vanished into the night at the sight of Ahmed. Relieved, Meskhenet had Bakari trot ahead of Ahmed's horse before she tried to gracefully hop down only to stumble into her husband's arms.

Ahmed regarded Bakura with a cold look which Bakura returned. Then he gave the soldier a cocky smirk, "Thank you for bringing _my_ wife home," he emphasized 'my' quite clearly as if to tell Ahmed that he lost. Except Meskhenet was quite certain Ahmed didn't actually care about her being his. He just didn't like her.

"Gamilla war—" as if he said something taboo, Ahmed immediately fell silent. It was too late though, the name had come out of his mouth which caught her undivided attention. Gamilla? What of her? Hadn't Gamilla mentioned that she might be in Thebes? But the redhead hadn't seen her at all.

"What of Gamilla?" she asked. Without a word further, Ahmed turned his horse and walked away. "Wait! Where is she?" Bakura tightened his grip on her waist and shoulder, turning her attention from the fleeting soldier to the thief. "What does he know?" as if Bakura knew.

He shrugged like he didn't care—and he probably didn't. "How was your duel?" he immediately asked, "Did you do as I told you?" Suddenly she was hit from last night's moments; her face became a deep shade of red as she stammered an excuse. He waited before barking at her, "What are you mumbling?"

"I don't remember!" she replied hastily. He raised an eyebrow at her as she straightened up, clearing her throat while swinging her arms back and forth. "I didn't do well…I forgot everything you said." He looked so angry she averted her eyes shamefully before blurting out, "I—I was lost in the moment! I wasn't exactly listening."

He seemed to relax, but still regarded her disappointedly before breaking into a grin, "Which moment?" she slapped his arm before taking hold of the reins of Bakari and stalking away, embarrassed. "I want to know."

"Go away! Don't you have some thief business to take care of?"

"I finished," his strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her back into his body as his face appeared right next to hers. She giggled and squealed as he spun her around while she tried to look angry at him, failing. He gave her a quick kiss and asked her again as she wrapped her arms around his neck, standing in the starlight. She always felt better at home, no worries, no duties…it was just her and Bakura, two souls together in the midst of the Egyptian night. "Tell me." He pressed his forehead against hers.

"When you had me fro—" they were disrupted when they heard children voices coming from the alleyway behind them. Both of them had their heads turned in that direction as a family of four came, laughing and talking. Slowly he looked back at her; she let out a nervous laugh while he took the reins from her hands.

"We should talk at home," he declared, taking her hand in his free hand as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I want to show you something." She looked up at the moon then furrowed her brows as she glanced at him. _Now? It's late…_ as if reading her mind, he said, "I know it's late but tomorrow I will be gone sunrise and won't return until late night—you'll be asleep by then."

"Where are you going?" she asked, frowning. She didn't want him to go. She wanted him to stay. She didn't tell him that. What good was it? She fell in love with a thief; she knew how busy he was. She leaned over to peck his cheek while he let her hand go to throw his arm around her shoulders, "Is it far?"

"A bit," he answered, "Rumors are that there is silver so I'm taking my newly recruited with me to scout the area and if luck be on our side, we'll go in." His gaze was off in the distance as if he had other things on his mind as he became silent. She felt uncomfortable under his silence, it was like that time—the night they were wedded, he had the same look and quietness when he spoke of his family. She wished he'd tell her what was bothering him, what happened with the invaders… She took hold of his hand on her shoulder and kissed it which seemed to grab his attention. "We'll ride Kek there. I'll have you back here before midnight."

"Where is 'there'? What is this 'there'?"

He grinned at her, "You'll see," he told her. When they got home, he stabled Bakari only to take Kek out and lifted her onto his black steed before getting on behind her. He rode his silhouette of a horse across the desert night, the galloping hooves and slight wind was like a lullaby to her, she drifted off to sleep, again dreaming of her ka but was abruptly awoken when Kek stomped into a stop with a loud neigh to shatter the night's silence. Groggily, she blinked her eyes as she felt Bakura move behind her, shifting until he was down his horse. She felt his hands on her waist as he pulled her down.

Yawning, she blinked, "Where…?"

They had stopped near the Nile, not too far from a small town that looked rather abandoned except for a few individuals. He took hold of her hand and led her by foot towards the suspiciously quiet place. A few old men, who she had to say looked like crooks, watched as the two of them passed the few housing areas along with the shops and restaurants until they were right in front of a bar with a mean looking fella. She was glad she had nothing of importance with her, she felt like these men weren't afraid of attacking an innocent woman who had enough valuables—her only valuable here was Bakura who still had a form grip on her hand as he led her down an alleyway to the left of the bar. The night was silent despite the few people in town, here and there could murmurings be heard but so silent were they that one would literally have to strain their ear before they could make out one word. The alleyway was like a mini maze, left, right, left, left, right and… then there were in an ancient housing district that looked like it once had many inns and brothels but now only a few places ran services. Definitely not the brothel though, in this abandoned town there didn't seem to be a single woman here.

 _Escaped criminals,_ was the first thought that came to her mind, however as Bakura led her to the center inn that had at least two stories, her mind was back on where they were going. The inn was horribly falling apart as if a sandstorm had hit it in the last decade a hundred times, the awnings were falling apart with gash marks like some lion had torn through, the windows were boarded up with wooden planks and whatever paintjob that used to be on it was faded to almost white. It smelled of burned firewood and smoked stone.

She barely had any time to see the inside because Bakura kept tugging her in a direction she couldn't see; it was so dark with no candlelight to light the way. How did Bakura know where to go? When they finally stopped and her eyes adjusted, she saw that they were in a room that had a desk in the corner with a bed next to it, a beaten faded red rug on the floor and nothing else. He pulled the rug off, kicking up dust and sand and whatever else that could kill someone if they inhaled it all. She hacked up a cough, waving her hand in front of her. "Wha—what…?"

Bakura searched the floor for something until his hand found a small nook in the floor that opened a hatch up to reveal stone stairs receding downwards underground. He smirked and glanced at her before gesturing her forward. Frowning, she stepped into the darkness, about to light up a fire until Bakura grabbed her hand, "Don't," he insisted as he placed her hand down. She shivered in the cold darkness, as if sensing her hesitation he took the lead again, keeping her hand in his. As they descended into darkness, she remembered Ata's shrine to that monster…that hideous monster in the darkness with the candles and the tablet, oh! She hated the dark. The warmth from Bakura's hand was the only reassurance she had that she wasn't descending into some madman's shrine.

Deeper they went until the blackness turned to a faded dim glow from torches lit up on the wall, though the light did little as she still had no idea where they were going, they were comfort enough to send the chills out of her. She stumbled when her feet landed on a stone platform before the stairs continued in a sudden left. Bakura caught her, lifting her to her feet. "You're such a klutz," he chuckled. She didn't find it funny.

"Where are we?" she asked impatiently.

"Be patient," he insisted, tugging her downstairs until they reached the bottom where she huddled close to him. He seemed to find her discomfort amusing. They were once again with no light so Bakura literally had to push her by the small of her back deeper inside. Where were they? Why was their an underground structure here? How old was this place? She had so many questions but she was just too tired to ask. They passed double doors that had violet paint falling off along with broken golden designs rusted before they made a right through an open archway covered by some tattered curtains. The short hall of a room had little decorations with two tables at either side of the hall carrying old statues of miniature gods and creatures with pottery. They didn't stay long enough for her to fully process the room as he pulled her towards another set of doors that resembled the ones out of the hall. In a final grand gesture, he slammed the doors open and pulled her inside, blinding her with whatever light that spilled from the room.

It was golden lit with a large violet rug on the floor; a long low table was centered in the middle of the grand room with no chairs but low enough for its guests to sit on the floor. Some curtains and drapery hung on the walls of the room. There were other decorations spread out in the corners—pottery, table ornaments, good luck charms, bowls of nuts and water, vases on tables around the room. A lounge looking area was situated at the far right cornered decorated with cushions and pillows while across was another door leading elsewhere. The room was beautiful albeit empty and lonesome; it still took her breath away.

"This," Bakura laughed, "Is what I wanted to show you." He gently took both her hands and led her down to the lounge area before plopping down on a cushion, pulling her down atop of him. "It still needs some work but what do you think?"

"It's beautiful," she said amazed, still looking around. "How—where did you find this?"

He merely smirked at her, "It's going to be one of our hideouts away from the soldiers and everyone—where we can all gather to bring in the rewards."

She stopped. He found this place for his newly recruited band. He really was serious about all this. She fiddled with her hands as she thought about the town and everything, "What if you get found out…what if someone leads the soldiers here?"

He scoffed as if the thought was impossible. "It's like a maze down here," that wasn't good, what if she got lost? "I'll make a map for you but other than that everyone else is going to have to memorize the many exits and dead ends. We're going to put traps in too."

She didn't really know what to think, he had put so much effort into finding this place for this band. Just what exactly did he plan on doing with a band of thieves? What couldn't he do for himself that he hadn't already done? _You said you'd be supportive…_

"You don't like it," he frowned as he looked away angrily, lightly pushing her off.

 _It's not that,_ she was just worried. Realizing, she might've been coming off ungrateful and unsupportive, she leaned over to him, turning his face towards her as she kissed him on the mouth. "It's fantastic!"

He grinned and stole another kiss. "We should get back."

She frowned, "I'm tired." Halima had said they would practice again soon, meaning she wouldn't need to see the dark haired woman until later. She nuzzled her head on Bakura's chest, "We can stay here the night, yes?"

"Magda is the only other person who knows," Bakura told her, "So no one will bother us if that's really what you want." He tilted her head up and gave her a hard peck, "My chambers are not furnished yet unless you are content with the floor." His tone was mocking and his smile was taunting as if he was daring her to take the challenge. She shook her head and climbed on top of him until she was straddling him, her red hair curtaining their faces as she giggled, leaning in close to him.

"I'm no princess," she said matter-of-factly, "I've slept most my life on the floor," rubbing his chest, she kissed his cheek and nose, "Besides our first night together was on the floor, remember?"

"Oh," he laughed, "How can I forget?" in a matter of seconds he had her on her back as she squealed. "You were like this except more fidget," he ran his hand down her chest as she flushed a deep crimson color. His fingers traced her dressed all the way down to the hem as he lifted her skirt up to kiss her legs. She giggled and squirmed, feeling his hot fingertips and lips dance over her lower half.

The door across the lounge flew open as Magda came in with a dagger in his hand, alerted as he looked around before his eyes fell on the couple, a look of relief washing over him. Meskhenet froze at the sight of him, but Bakura was still at work until she lightly kicked him in the ribs, making him pull out from under her skirt, he turned, unsurprised, at Magda.

"I thought someone had intruded," Magda sheathed his dagger away, "It was only you…two."

"Is there something you want?" Bakura asked impatiently, "If not, get out. I'm busy."

"At least warn me if you are coming. What if I attacked you?"

Bakura gave Magda a look that said 'like that would happen'. Meskhenet sat up, tucking her legs beneath her as she waited for Magda to leave. "Magda," Bakura said.

"Yes?"

"Why are you still here?"

"Oh!" the auburn haired man scrambled back to the door but before he closed it, he turned, "Are you not supposed to be at the palace tomorrow?" he addressed Meskhenet who frowned.

"No…I don't think so. Why?" Meskhenet questioned. She was told nothing therefore she didn't really care about being late.

"Ah, well, one of my informants told me that the Queen would be summoning all of the Court members for a meeting," he replied.

She let that information sink it. "I am yet to be part of the Court formally, but I have had no word of this." Magda shrugged and left. "I suppose I should get some sleep, I might need to be at the palace," she laughed bitterly.

"No longer in the mood?" Bakura asked, frowning as he laid her down. She scooted closer to him as he lied on his side next to her. He brushed her face with his fingers as she kissed his hand gently. "What if I steal you away for one day?"

"You said you will be gone in the morning, you can't," she frowned. Both of their jobs were keeping them apart. She cursed her luck. She really wished he could steal her away…not for a day but for life, she'd go with him anywhere but she remembered her father's wish. How could she break it? She wanted to change the subject before she got sad again. She turned onto her side away from him, taking hold of his hand and laying it across her breasts. "Who are Magda's informants?"

He snaked his other hand under her, pulling her closer into his body before he stuck his calloused hand in the neckline of her dress, roughly groping her. "Some people he bribes, blackmails, women he sleeps with."

Meskhenet closed her eyes, enjoying his warmth and touch, moaning lightly. "Women?" she laughed a little, "He looks like a virgin."

Bakura burst out laughing, his body vibrating hers. "That man is probably the biggest whore. What do you think he pays to get his little secrets? His information?"

"I thought he pays secrets, information for information…he pays his body?"

"Indeed," Bakura responded, flicking her nipple which sent her body shivering with delight. "I told you he's a thief of a different kind. It makes him almost similar to a female thief."

She turned her head to look at him," What if I asked you to pay?" she asked, a little teasingly. He seemed to understand what she was getting at. He laughed loudly, pulling his hand out from under her dress which made her frown. She wanted his warmth back.

He grabbed her hand and kissed it, "That, my dear, is called a prostitute."

"Oh, so you wouldn't?" she asked, feigning offense.

"I didn't say that," he retorted before yanking her into his chest, placing one hand on her rear. "The beauty of marriage, though," he gave her a devilish grin, "Is free sex and service."

 _"Excuse me?"_

He merely chortled, pulling her into an embrace. "Get some sleep." She felt the little bubbles of anger rising, but that just made her feel more tired. She'd get him back for saying that—or better yet, she would start making him pay! Hmm… she had to come back with some better way of revenge for those words. She felt like if she started demanding him to pay, he would start withholding his money to taunt her and make it sound like she needed the sex more than he did, ugh! How did she fall in love with this demon?

"You're such a jerk."

"And you love me for it."

Sighing, she breathed in his scent. She couldn't deny that. She did.

* * *

.Magda's informant wasn't lying, the next morning when she arrived at the palace she was ushered by the Grand Vizier to the throne room where the entire Queen's Guards and the Pharaoh's Court were gathered in one place. It was intimidating! She hadn't known half the people here but the Pharaoh's Court consisted of: Aknadin—the nice old man who toured her the palace and wielder of the Millennium Eye, Mahad—head of security and powerful magician who was the same age as her as well as the wielder of the Millennium Ring, Set—the newly appointed wielder of the Millennium Rod, Isis—a woman of great beauty garbed in priestess garbs whom Meskhenet had not the pleasure of meeting yet and wielder of the Millennium Necklace, Karim—the big, muscular man she had seen when she first arrived formally and wielder of the Millennium Scales, and Shada—the nice bald man Zaim had introduced her to and wielder of the Millennium Key. The only Millennium Item not present in the room was the Pendant, but she knew that without the Pharaoh, no one was wielding it currently; perhaps the Prince would take it when he was older. The Pharaoh's Court stood at the left of the room while the right was filled with the Queen's Guards. The Queen's Guards were also a bit unknown to her but it consisted of: Halima Re—wielder of the Akhet Dragon's Eye and Meskhenet's priestess mentor, Amon Ishtar—the number one jerk of Egypt and wielder of the Akhet Medallion, Sabra—the most unusual member of all as he was a dog and wielder of the Akhet Collar, Rashida—a young blue haired girl around Meskhenet's age and newly appointed wielder of the Akhet Earring, Radames—a quiet man who looked as if he didn't know what smiling meant and wielder of the Akhet Bracelet, Bahiti—a tall woman who had her eyes always closed and wielder of the Akhet Locket, Yuf—a richly looking dark haired man and wielder of the Akhet Star, and finally the Great Wife herself—wielder of the Akhet Heart.

Some of the people who stood here were new such as Rashida, Mahad, Yuf and Set, unfortunately for Meskhenet she was the only one (as far as she knew) who was not actually _officially_ apart of the Queen's Guards which made her feel out of place. If her father was still here, he would've been standing here, not her. But he wasn't. He was gone. And the only person they _had_ to bring here was her.

The Queen made no sound except seemed to straighten even more in her throne—the late Pharaoh's throne—and yet it still garnered the attention of all. "I have gathered you all here for an announcement," she paused and for a brief second Meskhenet saw the wear and strain the Great Wife was actually enduring, then just like that it was gone. "As all of Egypt has known, our beloved Pharaoh Aknamkanon has passed." It seemed to almost grow even quieter in the room, "This has been one of the greatest losses of Egypt, however in our time of mourning we cannot afford to show our enemies our weakness—no, we will not allow our beloved Pharaoh's death be our weakness, rather our strength." Her voice began to crack as she continued and for the first time Meskhenet realized just who the Prince had gotten his inner strength from.

To continue her speech, the Grand Vizier jumped in, "We will hold a tournament as a festivity to praise our gods and to show just how strong Egypt is."

"As a distraction so the people don't realize an enemy invasion to avoid widespread panic," Set smirked as he inputted his thoughts, "Clever."

Meskhenet gave him a glance as the Grand Vizier grumbled something about stealing spotlights before he coughed and continued, "Yes—that's exactly what we're going to do—"

"Will we be discussing the military's outposts and units?" the buffed man Karim asked, cutting the Grand Vizier off.

"My Queen, are we at risk of another war?" the young blue haired girl Rashida questioned for everyone, however before the Grand Vizier could speak, the woman Isis turned to Rashida.

"The Millennium Necklace has foreseen an attack on Swenett," Isis placed a hand to the golden snug necklace that, like all the Millennium Items, contained an eye. "The outcome of the battle however is hazy."

"What does that mean?" Sabra, the dog, spoke which startled Meskhenet as she turned her now undivided attention to the Pharaoh hound who stood solemnly attentive to all while never turning away from the Queen. How was such a dog able to speak the language of man? Her brown eyes fell on the thick golden collar around his neck that had the hieroglyphic _akhet_ sectioned in the middle while a stripe blue and gold cord wrapped around the golden piece. It must've been from his Item… "I thought the Necklace could foresee all except that of the other wielders' futures."

 _Wielders' futures?_ She looked around the room, staring at each of the Items of the Court and Guards. So the Millennium Necklace's weakness was that it could not foretell the future from its comrades. She looked down at her own hand, though she did not carry the Dagger, she envisioned it and remembered the weaknesses she had read about it and what Halima had told her, a part Zaim had left out.

They had been in the library where Meskhenet was taking notes of the history of the Akhet Items while Halima perfectly recited the creation, usage and forms of all the Akhet Items as if she had memorized a whole scroll or book of all the facts of the Akhet Items. When she got to the Dagger, instead of pacing, she took the time to sit across from Meskhenet as if she wanted the girl's complete attention on her and not the notes she was taking. "As you have learned, the Akhet Dagger is a prototype of the Millennium Items, it can take the _ka_ of a person and with its power it can communicate with many kas, one's with masters and one's without. However, there is one thing you should know…" she paused, staring at the image Meskhenet had drawn of the Dagger her father once held, "If the Dagger is used to take one's ka away, it will take the life of the master. The Dagger has been covered in blood for many years, Priest Yaqeen tried to redeem it by never using that part of the Dagger and another part—which I am unaware of."

The Dagger she would wield was just what it was—a weapon and weapons were only used to hurt. She needed to be like her father and never use that side of the Dagger. Halima didn't know all the details of the Akhet Items, including the Dagger and most importantly the Dragon's Eye, as most of the magic had been lost in time after their creation but she had given Meskhenet some insight to get a good idea what she could use her item for. She felt bad for the stern woman, having wielded an Item for years and never once knowing the powers, potential or even use of that very Item. Though, she believed it was because of this that Halima was so strong. She stood in a Court among other guards who had mastered their Items, pushing her _own_ strength to stand on equal grounds. Meskhenet clenched her fists, even if she discovered all the powers of the Dagger; she wanted to be like Halima. She wanted to stand as equals with the other wielders with her own power.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the woman, Isis, responded. "Strong dark magic also makes the future difficult to predict."

"So our enemies are using magic," Shada said thoughtfully.

"It is too early to tell," the Grand Vizier coughed, trying to gather the Court's attention. "If this is a declaration of war or simply a well-planned attack is beyond our knowledge currently."

"We have enough magicians in the Court to ward off the attack," Aknadin declared, looking amongst the many other Court members.

"Yes, but some are still inexperienced," Halima replied, "And if we send all the Court to Swenett we will gather much attention from the people. Waiting for an attack would be just as bad. Our best option is to have the tournament, remove the people from Swenett as best we can and send our most skilled members to meet the enemy."

The Queen nodded, "Yes that is how we will meet the enemy. The tournament will be announced in three days' time. Master Aknadin, Halima, Karim, Radames, Sabra and Bahiti, I will be sending you to Swenett along with a troop of soldiers and a few messengers. For now, you are all dismissed."

And like that, the Court disassembled, but Meskhenet had a few questions. She wanted to ask the Queen after the meeting but when she saw Erina and a few soldiers approach the Great Wife, she lost her nerve and instead ran after the nearest person she could find: the Grand Vizier. "Excuse me!"

The Grand Vizier turned around at the corridor to spot her, "Oh, uh, Meskhenet, yes? What may I help you with?"

"Sir, is it really wise to send just six of the court members? And nonetheless, the oldest ones?" she didn't want to question the Queen's thinking, it was just worrisome of the attack…and besides dark magic made her think of one person, Ata, but she knew he probably wasn't the only one who dabbled in such sorcery.

The Grand Vizier laughed, "Oh, ho, ho, sending anymore would cause too much attention. Six is enough, besides some of them might be older than you and the new Court members, but they are also the most experienced ones who have mastered their kas. Do not worry; they have dealt with things like this before. Ho! The Prince is waiting! I completely forgot!" and like that the Grand Vizier scrambled away, his blue robes fluttering behind him.

She sighed, Halima would be away and a tournament was coming…she didn't know what to make of all this. Before she could even gather her thoughts, some servant shouted at her to get back to the kitchen to which she ran just as fast as the Grand Vizier. Kitchen duty was about the same, only difference was Set did not come in neither did Amon, meaning they were either prepping for the tournament or doing some other business either way that made Meskhenet's day so much better.

"Meskhenet, you're so quiet today," Maat, the older woman, said as Meskhenet placed the clean dishes aside. "Is something the matter?"

"Ah, no… I jus—"

"Did the Queen intimidate you?" a servant girl came in from somewhere, raising her voice rather loudly. The other servants shushed her and she waved them off. The girl looked about Meskhenet's age, maybe a little younger but her hair was hidden behind the loose scarf she wore on her head that was a lighter shade of brown then her plain robes. A few brown strands of hair could be seen from the back and her large green eyes were filled with excitement and wonder. "I heard there was a meeting. What was it about?"

"Rania!" shouted Maat.

"It's not like you all aren't curious."

Meskhenet merely giggled, but said nothing. She didn't think she was allowed to tell everyone before the tournament announcement and she definitely couldn't tell anyone of the attack. "I have a lot on my mind."

"Don't you have your priestess training afterwards? Hmm, you really skipped out on us today. Lucky…" Rania waited for Maat to leave before shifting her gaze around, "Want to come with me to the soldiers' barracks afterwards? I heard a rumor Halima is leaving town for a while. We can check out the gorgeous men and maybe…" she winked at Meskhenet, "Get some alone time."

"Rania, I'm married!" Meskhenet exclaimed which only made the servant girl shrug.

"You're young. What he doesn't know won't hurt him!"

The redhead shot her a look before stalking away. She didn't care for _gorgeous men_ , she liked her handsome man, maybe he was less dignified than the soldiers but as far as she could see, they were jerks! Her brother was the only decent man who had been part of the army. Oh, she needed to tell Bakura of the attack to be sure he wasn't going down to Swenett any time soon.

After her shift, Meskhenet planned on heading home but Rania did end up dragging her all the way to the soldiers' barracks much to Meskhenet's horror. There were men of different ages ranging from thirteen to forty, all quite fit (except the younger ones, they were still getting there) and some, she had to admit, were not bad on the eyes but their presence made her feel uncomfortable. She didn't want anyone finding out her husband was a thief so she resolved to be silent while Rania went off on her business.

The barracks wasn't too far from the palace, if anything it was right next to it. It was huge! It housed a lot of soldiers and horses; there was a large stable outside that led to a corridor with a lot of arches and doorways that led to different divisions in the stone structure. The room Rania had chosen had at least forty soldiers or so with beds for each of them, some belongings and a few desks, on one side of the room there were all the weapons: spears, swords, bows, daggers etc.

Some soldiers seemed quite happy that some females came to their barracks, others went on their business. She didn't like the way some of them were eying her, she knew what they were whispering about, ' _Red hair like Set's desert.' 'Must be a cursed child.' 'Set's daughter, probably.'_ She remembered all those comments when she was a little girl, her mom told her that red hair was unique but a curse because people didn't take well to the color red, that's why they're family mostly lived away from town and why when they were still a family, her father was the only one who had gone to get supplies. Hakim never let those word get to him neither did her mom, but she wasn't as strong as them, she had become self-conscious of her hair which warped her view of herself. _Bakura thinks you're pretty, that's enough._ She sighed, anyone else's opinion didn't matter she told herself.

"What are you doing here?" someone asked her from behind as she spun around to see herself face to face with none other than Set.

"Oh, I was just accompanyi—"

"No women are permitted here," his eyes shifted from her to Rania in the distance flirting with a dark haired soldier who seemed quite happy to see her. "Are you trying to distract the men who fight for Egypt? They don't need any distractions from any women _especially_ those who know what they're up against."

Her heart sank. Ammit! She forgot, some of these men would be going to Swenett to fight. How could she forget? She shouldn't have let Rania come. "I'm sorry…I forgot. We'll be leaving now." She turned to call Rania, but Set beat her to it.

"You there!" he shouted loud enough for the whole barracks to hear, "Enough of your frivolous and shameful behavior, these men have a duty to perform! Go home and don't ever come here again!"

"You didn't have to yell," Meskhenet said, feeling bad for Rania who looked upset at her callout. "I was going to get her."

"You've done enough, now get out of here." Set didn't even bother to hide his animosity. He wasn't as degrading as Amon or Ahmed, he was more a constant wave of anger but nonetheless his attitude had placed him with the other two on who to avoid.

"Set, that's enough," Mahad walked over to them; apparently he had heard Set's shouting. He was completely garbed in robes of light tan with little jewelry on this time, but his Millennium Necklace stood out among his entire wardrobe, grabbing her attention to the weird circular talisman. "I think you have given them enough of a lecture."

"You're supposed to be the head of security. You can't even secure your own barracks from a couple of silly women," Set glowered at Mahad who seemed unaffected by the insult. Meskhenet shifted her gaze between the two men, both newly appointed to the Pharaoh's Court. She knew Set and Amon didn't get along, but not even Mahad…she wondered who did get along with Set in the Court?

"Nonsense," Mahad laughed a little, "What are a few nice ladies going to do?"

"You underestimate the power of a woman."

"No, I trust the Queen's judgment of who she hires," Mahad countered. Set didn't reply but lingered his gaze for a while before shifting it onto Meskhenet then turning on his heel. Somehow, Meskhenet didn't think Set was taking about just the sexual appeal of a woman but rather actual power. "I thought Master Aknadin asked you to watch the Prince?"

"The Prince is old enough to take care of himself. He's not going to grow up into a pharaoh if everyone is always coddling him," Set disappeared behind the open doors when some soldiers came in. Mahad let out a sigh while Rania tapped her foot, pouting.

"How can he be so disrespectful to our Prince?" she asked, her foot tapping even faster than before.

"I don't think it's that," Meskhenet said.

"She's right," Mahad told Rania, "Set doesn't disrespect our Prince, rather he believes in his power and acknowledges his strength; however he fails to remember that guidance plays a part too in one's learning and growth. I apologize for his behavior."

Rania seemed to perk up at that apology, "There's nothing for you to apologize for. Besides, a handsome man like you didn't do anything wrong. Say, how about you give us a tour of the soldiers' barracks?"

Mahad gave her a kind smile, "His behavior was wrong, though he had a point, the soldiers must prepare to protect Egypt. I do hope you understand, perhaps another time."

Before Rania could say anything, Meskhenet jumped in, "That's quite alright. Thank you! I wish them all the best of luck, let's go, Rania!" she pulled the brunette out of the room before marching out from the barracks' area. "I'm such a fool."

"Hold on, ow! Come on, stop for a minute!" Rania shouted, yanking the redhead back who turned around, realizing she had been practically dragging Rania out. 'Gods, why are you in such a hurry?"

"It's nothing, let's go," she let go of Rania's hand before turning and smacking right into Set, "Set!" she said angrily before realizing her mistake, "I'm sorry…I was just leaving." He regarded her with cold eyes, half of her wanted to slap him for it, why was everyone noble man a pompous jerk? Then again, according to Mahad, Set was similar to her and yet when she looked at Set's clothing, his attitude, he was nothing like her at all. She didn't wear gold, fancy cloths (she barely had any color clothing) and least of all, looked down on others. She understood how the poor were, how it was _to be_ poor so she tried to empathize with others. Set didn't seem to do that at all.

"I need to speak with you," he said without any indication that he cared if she wanted it or not. "You're to join the Queen's Guards, correct?" Before she could reply, he went on, "Yet, you have no motivation, no skill in what you're trying to achieve. Regardless of whether you're Yaqeen's daughter or just another pauper trying to climb the social ranks, the Court or Guards doesn't need a person like you."

He was a higher rank than her, maybe even a noble…he already had his Millennium Rod—but she no longer cared! The little tinder that carried her fading embers lit up and she jabbed a finger at him. "I am Yaqeen's daughter and _I will_ take my place among the Guards. My place isn't for you to say where I belong! I don't care if you think I'm capable of achieving what I nee—"

He snarled at her, "You can't become a guard with your attitude. Priestess Halima trains you, her goal is to get you through your training as soon as possible and yet whenever she leaves, and you squander your time doing what? I never see you in the library studying if she's not there, I never see you in the Temple of Wedju's trying to attain the kas your father had before you and least of all you never even try to train and master your ka! You think Mahad or I even Rashida got to where we are by making excuses and slacking?"

Rania was silent as she looked worriedly between the two. Meskhenet was stunned by his words. They infuriated her, they hurt inside…but the truth of the matter was…he was right. She didn't try hard enough, she only did things because her father wanted her to become a Queen's Guard and she settled for the least amount of work possible. She resolved to fulfil her father's dying wish without any actual motivation. She was squandering her time…

"Listen… Priest Set," Rania piped in a little quietly, "Meskhenet isn't like you or the other nobles. She works in the kitchen, she lives two hours away and whenever Priestess Halima is not around, she takes it as a reprieve for all the hard work."

"No," Meskhenet replied, "He's right, Rania. I haven't been trying," clenching her fists, she looked Set straight in the eye, "Thank you but from here on out, I'm going to do my best. I _will_ take my father's place and I'll make Priestess Halima proud… because one day I will be standing amongst you all—as one of the Royal Court." Whether her speech made Set believe in her or not, she wasn't certain but he left with no further comment. "Rania, thank you for that, I will be going home after I stop by the library."

Rania gave her a big grin, "Do your best! Show them what you can do! We from the kitchen will support you as best we can!"

She nodded and smiled. _I'm sorry, Father, I will try from now on, that's my vow to you._ She hurried to the library and with the help of Erina, gathered a bunch of scrolls and books on kas, priest rules and temple policies before taking them all with her home. Unfortunately she had gathered too much that Bakari couldn't carry them all without slowing down so she had the scrolls and books floating behind them on their way home. When she got there, Bakura was already in bed, marking something on his map before he saw the paperwork she had gathered from the library much to his surprise.

"What is all this?" he asked, sitting up.

"I need to get better," she answered without further explanation. She changed into her night gown before crawling over him, taking a book before dropping the rest on the floor. "I'll never get to where I need to be if I just keep at what I'm always doing." She flipped through the book without even reading, still fuming from Set's words. Ugh! Ammit curse him! How dare he?! All in front of Rania too and who knows who else was nearby.

"Someone said something," Bakura stated, eying her.

"Yes! And worse of all…it was true. All I ever do is waste time whenever my teacher leaves. I'll prove him wrong! I am not just some pauper trying to climb the ranks!" she slouched in the bed, sulking as the tears began to gather in her eyes. _No, no! You're not supposed to cry, you fool!_ She couldn't stop herself, though, the tears just spilled out. "I'm just a poor farm girl trying to be like everyone else—but everyone else are nobles, richer, more intelligent, elegant, stronger—I…I don't belong there and then you…" she trailed off as Bakura was still staring at her, she shook her head, try as she might, she didn't feel like she belonged with him either, "You have your thieves and I can't even relate to them. I'm stuck in the middle somewhere between home and work. That's not fair." She was sniffling badly now, wiping her tears before they could hit the pages of the book.

Bakura was silent before he rubbed the back of his neck. He scooted closer to her before giving her a tight embrace while she hiccupped. "Stop crying so damn much," he told her like that'd comfort her. "You don't belong over there—not with those royal bastards or with the scoundrels I hang around with. You belong with me because you're _mine._ "

She hiccupped before grabbing her pillow, "I'm not property!" she slapped him with the pillow before he yanked it away from her, grabbing her book and throwing it aside before crashing his lips against hers. She squirmed beneath him, though she couldn't say that it didn't ease her somewhat and she calmed down before he broke the kiss. "I need to study."

"Your place is with me," he told her again. "That's final." He pulled away from her, "Don't compare yourself to the likes of them. You're better than them even if you're just a farm girl, a shepherd, you'll always be leagues ahead of them."

She wiped her eyes, "And why's that?"

He beamed at her, "Because you're my queen." Those words alone melted her heart as she giggled through her drying tears. "You need to remember that." He bent over to pick up a scroll which she tried to grab, but instead he threw the pillow in her face much to her protest. "Promise me that!"

"Give it to me," she reached for the scroll only for him to hold it higher.

"Khenet," he eyed her.

"Hmm, I promise," she said halfheartedly. He still didn't give it to her. "Come on, Bakura…"

"Say it."

"Just give me my scroll!"

With his other hand, he grabbed her face much to her discomfort, brushing his thumb over her lips, "Say the whole thing, Khenet." He tried to keep a straight face but she saw the corner of his mouth curling up.

"I promise that I will remember that my place is with you because I am…your queen," she recited before he placed another kiss on her lips, this time more gently before he handed her the scroll, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her to lie in bed. "Go to sleep."

"I'll help," he told her. She laughed. She didn't think Bakura could help, what did he know about priesthood or the gods? She didn't protest though as she leaned her head on his shoulder. He pointed to some hieroglyphics on the scroll, "What is this?"

"Oh…" she forgot to tell him about the duties of a priest and how they couldn't commit any sexual acts during their months of active duty.

He must've read that whole passage because he said, "Bullshit, how long do you serve the temple?"

"A month," she squeaked. He made a growling noise of disapproval, "It's the gods' decree." He cursed and threw some very loud profanities at the gods. "Bakura!"

"Why? What does it matter what you do at home? If you don't do it at the temple, shouldn't that matter?"

"Bakura, no one does those types of things at the temples." She paused, glancing at him, "Maybe you," he gave her a sinister smirk, "gods! Don't you have respect for anything?! Sex is dirty and during priesthood, one must remain clean."

He was silent for a while, "Why is sex dirty? If a man and woman love each other, does it even matter?"

"You are a fool," she told him, "You don't do laundry so you don't know. It is dirty."

"You don't believe that."

"Yes, I do."

"Then why do you participate in so mu—" she slapped him with her pillow again before sitting up.

"I'll study on my own!" she said, embarrassed, flushing red as he laughed at her. "You're annoying!" She whacked him again but he only kept laughing at her embarrassment. "You are cruel. You live off other people's sufferings."

"Ahaha, I live off my own pleasure," he replied, licking his lips. She ignored him while she skimmed her scroll. He touched her hair, playing with it between his fingers before he grabbed a handful of her locks and sniffed them, moving towards the back of her neck. "You can't just study material. You need actual experience too."

"What are you talking about?" she glanced at him, "If you're talking about sex the—"

"No," he frowned, "You already have plenty of experience of that." She face palmed herself before sighing, "I'm talking about dueling and whatever rituals you need to do at the temple."

"Then enlighten me, oh, Priest Bakura!" she said playfully, giving a low mocking bow.

"Heh, for a fee, perhaps," he grabbed her waist and pulled her into his body, surprising her as she giggled. He was so foolish sometimes.

She kissed the tip of his nose, "What fee, Priest Bakura? I have little to offer."

"Whatever money you have," he smirked at her.

She feigned a gasp, "I don't pay false priests." He merely burst out laughing then gave her a deep kiss. She didn't think it was important, but felt obligated to point out, "We don't get paid for our priestly duties with coins." He gave her a confused look, "We get paid with grain."

"Well, that's waste."

"It puts food on the table," she shrugged, "And besides it's a great honor. Only the _hery sesheta_ priests and his fellow embalmers get paid with a pretty hefty price from the families of the deceased." She looked at Bakura long and hard and giggled to herself. Bakura liked tombs; she thought he could be an embalmer.

Bakura caught her look, "What?" he asked, smiling.

"Hmm," she said thoughtfully, "I think you could be a _hery sesheta._ "

He quirked an eyebrow at her, "I don't care much for the dead, it's much more lively to be with the living," as if to emphasize his point he began stroking the middle of her neck, sending her into a series of fits of giggles. Unfortunately, Meskhenet wasn't ticklish on her feet or stomach or even under her arms or ribs like some people, they had learned through their many nights together that her neck was quite ticklish so whenever Bakura remembered that he wouldn't let it go.

"S—stop!" she laughed, trying to shield her neck. "But if you become an embalmer you can dance and run around wearing a jackal head!" Priestess Halima had told her that her husband was an embalmer and as one of the rituals to see the deceased off was to wear a jackal head mask as the first embalming was of Osiris done by Anubis and thus the _hery sesheta_ imitated this.

"Really?" Bakura asked in feign excitement, "Then maybe I'll try it out."

"You should."

"Tomorrow, we will go to the temples here and have you shadow someone," he told her. "There should be two: the Temple of Hathor and the Tempe of Mut."

She placed a hand on his face, he really was trying to help her out but he must've forgotten then she worked tomorrow. Still, the thought counted. She kissed his warm lips before placing her forehead against his and laughed. "It's the Temple of Ma'at not Mut, those are two very different goddesses."

* * *

Author's Note: I was going to have her babysit Atem and Mana in this chapter but I decided to cut it there. This chapter went in a different direction than I planned, Meskhenet was supposed to use magic but instead I had her duel Halima now. In the next few chapters, more duels lol. So had little information on the payments of priests, one source said they got paid 20 gold a day but I couldn't find any other source that said that too, a few did say they get paid grain so I just took that one. The _hery sesheta_ are the lead embalmers (who are also considered priests) who wear the jackal head mask during the process of mummification, I know for certain they get paid. Besides the high priests, every other priest serves 1 month of priesthood at a temple before returning to their regular job for three months and then repeat and during that 1 month the priests/priestesses are supposed to remain clean, bathing multiple times a day, abstaining from sexual intercourse and performing rituals to honor the gods, they don't preach or educate about their religion, at least this is the information I found, those priests are called 'lay priests' I think. Priests are designated to a temple depending on where they live, so once Meskhenet finishes her training she will either choose the Temple of Hathor or the Temple of Ma'at to serve 3 months in a year :).


	39. Chapter XXXIX: The Deal

Chapter XXXIX: The Deal

The older priests indeed had left Thebes for their journey to Swenett while the remaining continued their duties as regularly as possible. In a day's time, the tournament would be announced and who knows what that was about. Meskhenet had never been or even seen a tournament, when she asked Bakura he said that in Tanis and a few other cities sometimes the nobles held them but he had never heard of the capital doing so which meant it was a new experience for the both of them. For now that could wait though, Bakura tried having Meskhenet ditch work to go to the temples in Deir El-Medina but she refused and took off to work much to his annoyance. Rania seemed to be in a spectacular mood and Meskhenet had to give credit to the dark haired soldier that decided to help out today in the kitchen. Undine didn't seem to care so long as their work was done, but Meskhenet found the man's presence a distraction as she couldn't at all get the brunette's attention. In the end, she had to use magic to get half of Rania's stuff done only to get yelled at by some of the older women.

She scooted herself between Rania and the man, "Excuse me, sir, could you please take the extra dishes out to the warehouse? If you follow him," she indicated a servant man, "He'll take you there." The soldier didn't argue with her, if anything he seemed quite glad to help as he took a stack of dishes and followed the male servant. She sighed, "Rania," she waved her hand in front of the brunette, "Stop fooling around."

"I like him," Rania stated dreamily, "He's so nice."

"Yes, well, I've had enough of being yelled at, thank you so if you could please bake the bread like you're supposed to that would be nice," Meskhenet said as patient as she could. Rania gave her a questioning look before sighing and moving towards a stone oven. "Is he going to court you or not?"

"Hmm, I don't know. He was a leather worker before he became a soldier but they're relocating him to Philae so I probably won't see him again…its best not to get my hopes up," the girl sighed as she carelessly dumped the dough into the oven. "I mean if _I_ could go with him then maybe we could start courting now!"

Meskhenet chopped up some lettuce before turning to face Rania, her mind wandering. "Rania, why did you… well, become a servant to the palace?"

"Huh?" Rania looked at her and shrugged. "It was the only job I could do, you know? Both my parents are no longer here and my sister got married and moved to Memphis. I'm not really good at anything," she stuck her tongue out and laughed, but Meskhenet didn't think that was true, Rania was great at cooking and she seemed to like animals very much, "So I just came here. Sorry my story isn't as fascinating as some others."

"Oh, no, yours is just about the same," Meskhenet giggled. "Mine isn't fascinating either… I moved from Mallawi here with my husband but I'm not here because I want to be."

"Yes, I heard Maat and Undine talking about that. Your father served the Queen before you, huh? That's why Priestess Halima is training you to become a priestess so you can take over. Must be tough, I wouldn't want to be a priestess, so much work and it's so lonesome, going to a temple and doing the same thing every day!"

"Well, when you're at the temples, you're not alone. The gods are there to keep you comfort…at least that's what I think. I really wish I could be a priestess of Osiris but I think my only options are Hathor and Ma'at."

"Hathor! She's the goddess of love! You got to choose Hathor!" Rania said quite forcefully making Meskhenet laugh.

"I think I've already chosen Ma'at."

"Awww, why?"

"Well, my best friend's name is Maat too, but also because my name derives from the goddess of childbirth," she frowned, "And Hathor is the goddess of motherhood too. I think I want to stay away from anymore stereotypes of my name."

"Oh, you know what would be neat? If there was a temple for Meskhenet then you could be Meskhenet, the priestess of Meskhenet!" the two young women laughed but that was as much attention Meskhenet got from the young servant because once the soldier came back, Rania only had her attention on him but luckily they were working together to get the job done which Meskhenet was relieved. She tried asking Maat or Rania to accompany her but alas no one had time so she mustered enough courage to go to the temples in Karnak herself—luckily it was not even an hour's walk! And she managed to find out that Amon was the priest of Khonsu so she decided to avoid that temple and go to Mut or Amun's temple for some additional practice.

Karnak was not too far from Thebes, surrounded by a wall in an almost perfect trapezoid-like shape, the entire village was primarily temples dedicated to the deceased pharaohs and to three of their gods: Amun the god of the sun and another form of Ra; Khonsu the god of the moon and Mut the goddess of motherhood. Another temple was a portion outside of Karnak's main walls with a wooden gate leading out to a thin passage that led to a considerably smaller walled structure where Mentu's (the war god) temple resided while Khonso's was on the far right with Mut's being in the center and Amun's on the left, many other temples and halls of the past pharaohs made up Karnak's interior with the Sacred Lake being near the center of the city. The city was breathtaking, lined with pillars, pylons, stairways leading down into the earth and obelisks scattered around the city. Each structure was made with heavy stones, thick and large in size, so tall that Meskhenet felt like a little insect in comparison. Many priests and priestesses walked on by, attending to their duties and going about their business.

"Wow…" she knew Deir El-Medina wouldn't have this grand of temples which made her kind of wish she was becoming a priestess for Karnak. Taking in the air of stone, linen and just plain freshness, she happily skipped over to the temple of Amun. Upon approaching the large structure of the temple of Amun which was a lot larger than the other temples with a clear walkway lined with pillars and large vases with greenery to make the scene more appealing as one walked to the temple that had a lot of statues of the gods on either side of the open corridors before the large entrance led to an open room where six pillars were centered over a rectangular pool with either side having entrances to other rooms while straightaway led to some stairs. On either sides were statues sitting each one with a different head or symbol of their heads of the gods and goddess and at the center of the stairway was a large statue of Amun facing to the left, holding an ankh in one hand while the other carried a scepter, wearing two plumes atop his head that reached quite high towards the ceiling. At each side of his ankles were two platforms, containing a golden object on each side that glinted dimly in the morning light. "How lovely…"

With so many statues of the gods, she couldn't help but feel like she was being watched. She was overcome with an inner sensation of pride and love, a love so deep that her chest hurt as she inhaled deeply when her eyes set upon the statue of Osiris in the far right. _Oh my…!_ Amun may have been a part of Ra but it was Osiris who Meskhenet revered the most and seeing the familiar statue of the god with his ostrich feathers on either side of his hat and the famous crook and flail across his chest, Meskhenet felt compelled to show her respect, falling to her knees she bowed to the earth in her utmost respect, offering a prayer and gratitude for all that Osiris had done and sacrificed.

"What are you doing?!" came a familiar angry voice as she kept muttering to herself of her prayers, but the person grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet and she came face-to-face with Set in his blue garbs, one hand on her arm and the other holding his rod.

"What are you doing here?!" she countered after quickly finishing her prayers. She looked around; so far no one else was here. _Oh no! Don't tell me Set is…_

"I am a priest of Amun."

"Oh Lord Osiris!" She cried. Just her luck, of all the priests to be here and it was Set! Why did the gods not give her better luck? Why did she always run into people she didn't like? Was she doomed to always oppose those of bad nature? "Well, then I am quite glad I will not be a priestess here!"

"Why are you here?" he narrowed his eyes at her. She knew that he knew why but he was testing her to see if she'd get scared of him. She wasn't frightened of Set, he was just someone of similar age, it was his anger that scared her… because deep down inside her it reminded her of Zaim's anger when she was little, when he'd yell or hit her or pull her hair. Set's outbursts were exactly like how Zaim used to be and it frightened her badly to the point she couldn't see Set as another person but simply a symbol of a bad memory.

"I came here to learn," she tried, straightening up to show that he didn't affect her. "I must become a priestess and whether Priestess Halima is with me now or not… I will learn."

"It's good to see you're trying," Set let her arm go, walking a few feet away, and she thought he might have somewhat complimented her. "But is there any reason why you chose the temple of Amun to come to?"

She rubbed her arm. Why did men have to be so rough? She wasn't some criminal or threat to him. "Well, I wasn't going to choose Khonsu's because Amon was there. It somehow slipped my mind that you are a priest too."

"So you're choosing temples based upon the people who perform there?" he made a sound of disapproval, and Meskhenet shot him a look. "I can see you have little respect for our gods." He walked right up to her. "We don't choose who the people we work with, however we bear with it in order to see the end result."

"I know I may not be a good priestess, servant, maybe even not a good human," she glared at him, "But I will not lie to my heart. I already have to work with Amon once I join the Queen's Guards, I will not perform my sacred duties with him either even if it is only temporarily."

"Life isn't about your heart's desires."

"And you can't live your entire life by someone else's duties—living how other people wants you too!" she moved away from him, crossing her arms. "When I met Mahad, he told me that you and I are similar but every time I see you I'm reminded of how dissimilar we are! You're nothing like me!"

"And for that, I'm grateful," Set snarled at her. "I wouldn't want to be similar to a woman who has the ideas of a criminal."

"Cr—criminal?!" she stuttered, taken aback by his words. She wasn't a criminal nor was her ideas! The nerve! She wanted to go all fire magic on him but was reminded that even though Set knew nothing about her, he always hit close to home. Bakura was a criminal and by her knowledge of his thievery, she was indirectly participating in crime.

"Mahad probably was only looking at the surface. You and I come from nothing, that's as close as we come to being similar."

"Well, I'm glad!" she replied angrily. "You're more annoying than any other court member that I have met! Now excuse me! I am going to find a priest to help me!" she stormed away, clenching her fists. Stupid Set! He and Amon didn't get along because he was the pre-adult version of Amon! That was the truth! And Ahmed was somewhere in the middle. _Men are such a pain!_

"Go to the Sacred Lakes and wash up," Set said just as she got to the entrance of the temple. "When you come back I'll show you how a priest's work is done." Looking back at him, he had his back towards her while he looked up at Amun's statue. She was a bit surprised; he was going to help her? Why? "Don't get the wrong idea. I don't care for you or your ideologies, but you are a priestess in training and you made the effort to come here. That's all."

She hesitated. Maybe Set was a giant jerk, but he had a heart that was probably buried beneath that stone cold ruthlessness. She left the temple, making her way to the Sacred Lakes. Lucky for her, she came prepared, wearing a linen gown of simple design with it just being plain black with a sash extending out to a double skirt over her dress skirt. Compared to say other priests and priestesses she was rather plain as she had no jewelry on but she was happy to see that some others didn't wear jewelry either.

She hummed over back to the temple of Amun until she spotted the Prince and Taira at the entrance to Karnak, they were with some guards along with the Grand Vizier who seemed to be giving the young ones a tour. They didn't step foot in Karnak as the Grand Vizier seemed to be going in a long lecture of the history. Taira caught sight of the redhead and waved at her which brought the Prince's attention too. He smiled, and Meskhenet gave them a little wave before Set called her from the entrance.

He too saw the tourists but ignored them as he caught gazes with the Prince who meekly nodded at him. Meskhenet came over to Set, placing her hands behind her. She never actually knew if the new members met the Prince, however most of them had been here before her so perhaps they did. As far as she knew though, Mahad seemed like the only one with a relationship with the Prince. And Taira seemed to be acquainted with Mahad as well, other than that though; the girl's existence was still a mystery to Meskhenet.

"Have you met the Prince?" she asked Set who snorted in reply.

"You think I wouldn't get acquainted with the future pharaoh of Egypt? How naïve," he walked into the temple without further words. She kept her mouth shut as she followed him until they came to a room with an idol of Amun dressed in linen before a table filled with offerings of all types of food. Halima had told her this much about how to clean and dress the idol, and how to give the new offerings to the gods. She informed Set of her already learned knowledge only for him to tell her to shut up and then went on to fully in excruciating details explain the complete process again.

When she was scrubbing the idol clean while he got some new set of clothes for the statue of Amun, she turned to him and asked, "What is your ka like?" it wasn't important or anything, it was just that she knew everyone had so many unique kas out there and seeing Halima's she wanted to know everyone in the Court's. Deep down she actually just wanted to compare how 'bright' everyone's kas were compared to hers. _Mine is dark and dreary like Ata's…_

"What does it matter? Keep cleaning!" Set ordered as she turned back to the idol and scrubbed harder and faster. With a moment of silence, Set seemed to hesitate before he asked, "Have you ever heard of the White Dragon?"

"Is that your ka?" she asked, looking at him and slowly stopping until he shot her a look and she resumed her cleaning. "It sounds powerful!"

"No. It's not."

 _Then why mention it? I was asking for YOUR ka!_ She bit her tongue from saying that to him as she made sure the golden idol was shiny and clean that her reflection was seen in it. She wasn't a pampered girl who was unfamiliar with cleaning, no, if anything she was a pauper girl who was quite familiar with it and had done many cleaning for years back at the farm and at her old home. She had to admit, she hadn't been keeping up with cleaning what with Bakura gone half the time, she cleaned her shelves and her room and that was it. And the only other cleaning that was worse than polishing a whole idol was laundry. She hated laundry but that _had_ to be done quite frequently thanks to Bakura and his 'needs'

"So what is your ka? I have a… black magician and my husband has a white snake! He's quite gorgeous! Oh! And my master has a phoenix" she rubbed Amun's face until it was sparkling, of course the idol was a lot larger than her so she had to stand on a low stool to reach the high places. "Priestess Halima had a very lovely ka."

"Why do you care?" Set placed a bowl of tiger nuts in front of Amun before slicing up a watermelon and putting it on a plate.

"I'm just curious…"

"Duos, that's my ka's name. It is a blue winged creature. Perhaps one day you can see it in battle." He told her arrogantly. Creature was a vague term, what kind of creature was the question in her mind now but as to not bother him she remained silent and they did their priestly duties for a while in quiet before he said, "I wasn't aware you were married."

Something about his tone sounded a bit surprised and that took her the wrong way. "Yes…I am, why?"

"I never expected someone to marry a person like you."

She almost fell off her stool. Maybe that comment was to lessen a blow a lot harsher, but it was harsh enough! _What in Ammit's name is that supposed to mean?! 'A person like you'?! What kind of person am I?_ "Well, I can certainly see why you're not married! No girl wants that for a man!"

"'That'? What is exactly 'that'?" Set countered, sending her a look of disapproval.

"Arrogance, rudeness," she climbed down her stool before picking up the linen robes for Amun. Thinking about it now, Bakura had both qualities of that but Bakura was a different story! Bakura was passionate on top of that and even if he didn't want to admit it, he loved deeply and thus his anger was more profound than others. Set was just rude!

"And I can't see what man would want a woman who's always talking out of line and continuously asking annoying questions."

"Well, I'll happen to let you know my husband _appreciates_ those sides of me!" a lower rank meant that she should have been respecting Set but the attitude that he and Amon gave showed her no reason why she should give them respect. Because she was a farm girl gave people a reason to treat her less than others and she thought it unfair, why didn't land make her richer than others? Why was society run by gold? She hated gold. "I can clearly see why they named you Set."

"Hmph," Set merely responded as he finished the offering tables. She was about to go dress Amun but frowned and went to rearrange the offerings until they were perfectly aligned. "And why did your parents name you 'Meskhenet'? A hope for fertility?"

She frowned, shuffling over to the cloths to dress Amun. She straightened the linen shendyt out before sighing, "Yes, I suppose that was the reason. When I was little they always told me Meskhenet was the creator of the ka when children were born… as I got older my mother began to emphasize a woman's role and then the importance of fertility… and now, that's all anyone ever associates with my name. I… understand, for farmers fertility is important in our land, it's our way of life and in society, fertility brings the next generation to existence." She pondered that a moment before letting out another sigh. "I don't want to be known just for that. I want my name to mean something more." _Like a good magician, a powerful magician in history books or something like that._

"Set, the god, had power despite his role; I assume that's why my father named me." Set became quiet without another word, and she didn't ask any further. Set wasn't an unpopular name among boys but she still found it odd why parents would name their sons after a traitorous god? No one named their children Sobek or Apep—she was quite certain that the snake man she met years ago took that name.

The rest of the day, their only interactions were about the priest duties and when she tried to ask him about his ka again, he ignored her instead going on to show her the other temples and introducing her to some of the other priests and priestesses until they ran into Amon who was speaking to Isis, one of the priestesses from the Pharaoh's Court in front of the Temple of Khonsu. Isis departed from the man before Set and Meskhenet approached them.

As Meskhenet watched the dark haired woman leave, she thought of Halima and how they both looked very refine and elegant. Touching the tips of her hair, she wondered if maybe color had something to do with it. Maybe she should change her hair to black, no, Bakura liked her hair red.

"What… is it… you want…?" Amon spoke in his usual slow manner. Gods, how did anyone hold a conversation with this man? Then again, he probably didn't converse with others, just ignored them. But looking back, he was speaking to Isis just now, wasn't he?

"I'm merely showing her around," Set replied, not at all trying to hide his animosity.

Amon shifted his gaze from Set to Meskhenet and his gaze lingered on her. She thought he looked strange before realizing that he wasn't wearing any colors, just simple white linen with his golden earrings as his only jewelry. "Ahmed…made an…interesting, ah… statement to me… earlier."

 _Ahmed?!_ She looked at Amon, trying to hide her shock. Why was Ahmed talking to Amon? Wasn't Mahad in charge of the soldiers? Ammit, did he mention Bakura? Ahmed may not have made a move against Bakura because he hadn't been doing anything, but she didn't know of Amon, he probably wasn't the same. She gulped the little saliva before laughing a little. "Oh, is that so?" _No, you're being paranoid. Ahmed could have a million different things to talk about…_

"Meskhenet, I think the Prince needs some tutoring in magic," Set suddenly said to her. He didn't take his eyes off Amon but had a deep frown on his face.

"Tutoring?"

"I….thought you…were showing…her…" Amon paused, shifting his gaze between the two before shaking his head. "She is…not a…master….in magic."

"Some knowledge is better than none." Set turned to Meskhenet, "Why are you still here?"

"Huh? Oh…" she dashed off, not sure what that was about but was slightly grateful to Set for it, however it still worried her of what Ahmed told Amon. Last thing she needed was him telling Set of Bakura's 'occupation'. _Ammit! I'll have to find Ahmed and ask…_ without knowing where Ahmed was though, she went to the palace to see if she could find Mahad or the Prince since Set told her to go to him though she wasn't sure if that was a cover or he meant it. "Where could he be…?" she entered the throne room where the Prince was playing with that brunette haired girl, Mana, who was laughing while chasing after the Prince.

When the Prince noticed Meskhenet, he slowed to a stop just as Mana was still chasing him so she ended up smacking into him. "Oh, hello, Meskhenet," the Prince placed a hand on Mana's head as she peered from behind him. "Are you looking for Taira?"

"Hm?" Meskhenet looked around, that's right just a few hours ago Taira was with the Prince and the Grand Vizier. Oddly enough, Meskhenet realized she never saw Taira with the other children, if anything today was the first time she saw the young girl with the Prince. "Oh, no, actually I was looking for someone else, but were you not with her just a while ago?"

"Taira is busy," Mana spoke up but instantly became quiet when Meskhenet glanced at her. "She's with the Queen!"

She wondered what exactly Taira's relationship with Atem and the royal family was, the girl had told her she wasn't princess so why was she treated quite…exceptionally? "Well," she bent down a little to level herself with the Prince, "I hope she can spend some time with you both when she is free. But actually, I was looking for someone else…though Set told me I should practice some magic with you? Which reminds me, Prince, do you know magic?"

The Prince's face became a deep shade of red as he looked down sheepishly, "Um, I—I'm not very good at it… but Mana's going to train to be a magician like Mahad, right Mana!"

"Magician!" Mana said gleefully as Meskhenet giggled.

"That's nice, well, I'm no master of the art either but I could show you a thing or two?"

"Who was it you were looking for?" the Prince interjected as if trying to avoid the subject of magic. He couldn't possibly be that bad, right?

"Oh, a soldier…he and I used to be engaged," she said without thinking, frowning. Why did she have to mention that? The Prince was looking at her a little questionably. "Oh! Um, we didn't get along so I married my true love."

"That's nice," the Prince smiled.

"Now about your magi—"

"How about we duel?" he cut in, smiling as he closed his eyes. "I can practice with some of my kas before the tournament." Right, the tournament, she forgot about it. "My mot—the Queen doesn't mind if I use her diadhank so long as someone from the Court knows I have it."

"But Mahad isn't here," Mana clutched at the Prince's skirt as he patted her head.

"That's alright, Mana, Meskhenet is going to be a Court member."

She stood up straight, looking at him a bit worriedly. "Um, I'm not sure I count. I barely have a diadhank myself."

"Oh…" the Prince said, sounding disappointed. It didn't stop him long though as he suddenly ran off, leaving the two girls there with Mana whining about how he just took off. As he turned a corner from the corridor, he called, "Be right back!"

Meskhenet giggled. Crouching down, she patted Mana's head. Children were so adorable, "So…Mana, was it? Why do you want to be a magician?"

"To be like Mahad!" Mana told her happily. A small hand reached out and tugged on Meskhenet's red hair, surprising her a little. "How come your hair's red?"

Not sure how to answer that, she gave the little girl a smile, "Well, I got it from my mother just as you might have gotten it from your parents."

"I wish my hair was different," Mana pulled on her bangs, looking at her brown hair, "Like gold like the sun!"

"You'd look adorable with golden hair," Meskhenet tapped Mana's nose, "But you know what? I think you are simply gorgeous with your own hair you have now." It probably wasn't fair for her to be saying that since she sometimes wanted to change her hair, but brown really was a pretty color, it complimented well with their skin.

Mana giggled at the compliment just as they heard rapid footfalls and someone's voice getting louder. From the corner of the corridor, the Prince came into view, holding two diadhanks in his hands while Shada came stumbling after him, shouting objections and protests while the Prince reassured him to no extent. He came over to Meskhenet, handing her a diadhank that she was quite certain wasn't hers since hers was specifically made.

"Prince, you shouldn't!" Shada bent down to catch his breath.

"The Queen says it's fine for me to practice dueling so long as I use her kas and not my personal one," the Prince put the diadhank around his arm, but it was loose so he had to hold it in place with his other hand. He seemed rather excited for the duel which made her guess that most people didn't duel the Prince. She wouldn't blame them, they would probably think they would die if they defeated him just as she had when she first came to the palace, but getting to know the Prince she realized he was a kind and just young man. "You're here too so if anything goes wrong you can intervene!"

"Do not worry, I don't intend to harm the Prince at all. It's just a duel between friends," Meskhenet told Shada as she looked down at the diadhank. The only ka she had was her personal one, she had yet to form any contracts with others or Halima told her once that her father had designated certain kas for her before he passed. She hadn't seen them though and could not summon them yet so she would just rely on the Black Witch.

She handed the diadhank to Shada who didn't seem pleased at all about this but made no more further objections. He came over and picked up Mana to move her away from the Prince. The Prince seemed lost in thought as if he was choosing something in his head. Mana seemed excited to see the duel happen, she probably didn't see much dueling since she played with the Prince a lot, maybe at times from Mahad or Set…?

Meskhenet moved to the opposite end of the Prince, closing her eyes as she willed the Black Witch forward. A ripple in space opened a dark gate where the Black Witch glided out of, the rippling darkness forming the ends of its robe as from nothing its staff came into hand. Silent as ever, dark as ever, Meskhenet frowned at her ka. _Do not hurt the Prince, please! I don't want to be executed for this!_

"Wow…" the Prince breathed at her ka.

There was nothing to be awed about of her ka. It was a gross, dark thing that casted shadows upon her fire—it was a ka befitting Ata's lackeys. The thought disturbed her…was she like those women who followed him? _No._ she put that thought aside, and merely gave a small smile to the Prince who got his diadhank ready.

"I summon Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress!" the Prince called as the wings on his diadhank spread open and from the farthest one from him glowed a bright yellow light that came briefly before disappearing where the wing now had the carving of a dragon. From the diadhank came a light that formed into that of a blue dragon with a rounded muzzle and rather short body, its wings were like that of a wyvern's with its hands at the tips of its wings, a sharp tail flowing in the wind and a wide mouth that opened to reveal many sharp teeth.

Meskhenet took a sharp inhale of breath. It was the first time she saw a dragon, albeit the Winged Dragon seemed like a rather small one in comparison to the stories and books she read. Nonetheless, the presence of a dragon was both mystical and yet curious, who was powerful enough to have a ka of a dragon? _A tyrant perhaps, a king or conqueror would fit the masters of a dragon ka. Surely not the common people…_ she wanted to touch the blue dragon to feel the scales, wanted to see it breathe fire or hear what noise it made. Speaking of dragons, hadn't Set asked her about a dragon? Something about a white dragon, she thought, but couldn't quite remember.

"Black Witch, attack!" she commanded after thinking she was gawking too long. The Witch raised its staff into the air that gathered wind in a spiral around the top of the staff before it unleashed the spiraling wind at the Blue Dragon that guarded its body with its wings, dispelling the attack.

The Blue Dragon gave a cry that vibrated the room. It flapped its wings, rising high until it was quite some distance from the Prince who looked up at his dragon.

"Go, Winged Dragon!" the Prince called.

And without hesitation, the dragon threw its head back, gathering red aura around its mouth that turned from a wispy red to a fiery spark until it blasted a barrage of fireballs at the Black Witch that without command guarded the attack. Each fire hit the staff before splitting both ways and catching the area around Meskhenet in fire. The fire was small at first, but the more fireballs that struck the Witch kept coming, the fire grew larger surrounding Meskhenet.

Mana shrieked, hiding behind Shada who yelled something that was lost to Meskhenet thanks to the crackling fire on stone. The Prince shouted to his dragon and the blue beast stopped immediately before gaining more altitude and fanning his large wings to kill the fire that was gone in an instant. The Prince gave Shada a shy smile but the bald man gave him a look of disappointment.

To get Shada's attention away from the Prince, Meskhenet commanded the Black Witch to attack once more. Gathering the smoke around the redhead, the Witch set its staff's top ablaze before spinning it and hitting the ground. Small fire shot out from the flaming staff, scorching against the blue dragon's wings as it guarded. Unlike the Winged Dragon's flames, the fire from the Witch dispersed as it fell from the wings. While the Winged Dragon was guarding, the Witch, without command, started to attack.

"Wait, no!" Meskhenet told her ka, but it wouldn't listen as it swung down its staff in an arc of fire that set the whole dragon in flames that screeched loudly.

The Prince seemed mystified, thank the gods though, unhurt from the damage of his ka. The Winged Dragon roared loudly before it came crashing downwards towards the floor. In response, the Prince summoned another monster. The second wing on the diadhank lit up in gold and then from the light shot out none other than the Time Wizard with its cape and wand.

It took a second for Meskhenet to realize what just happened and when it finally hit her, it was like being struck by lightning. Her heart thumped loudly and the world looked like it was spinning, her mind went blank and her ka went limp before it dissolved into darkness, leaving the Prince and their small audience somewhat confused. Her body was numb and all she heard was the loud beats of her heart. _Why does the Queen have my father's ka…?_

"Meskhenet?" the Prince asked as he had his ka disappear. He walked over to her.

She laughed a little, "That can't be right…" she walked away in a dazed, deaf to all who called her name.

She didn't exactly know how she got home, but all she knew was that it was night and she was walking through the empty streets of Deir El-Medina with Bakari's reins in her hands.

Why hadn't it occurred to her before? She hadn't asked Zaim about the Time Wizard, she just hadn't thought about him since her father's death, all she thought of was her father but now that she saw the Time Wizard, it only now occurred to her. His ka had gone to the Queen. Why? Why hadn't he left the Time Wizard for her? She was his daughter, and yes, he had served the Queen for some time but still, hadn't he thought of leaving her something valuable to him? She was quite certain that if she had children, regardless of whether she served the royal family or not, she would've given her ka to her children in a heartbeat, no questions.

Stabling Bakari, she made sure there was plenty of food and water—she would need to get more food for the horses, their stock was running low but that was only in the back of her mind as she walked over to her house in a trance.

Her chest hurt badly and she couldn't shake it. In a rush, she picked up some clean clothes and took off to the canals, hoping a fresh bathe would clear her mind. The walk to the canals didn't help, it was long and felt like an eternity and all that ever played in her mind was why hadn't she received the Time Wizard? The aching of her heart was almost too much to bear—no, it _was_ too much. It was like being drowned in sorrow, the air leaving her, with the pain of a burning sensation growing in her chest where her lungs were. Her breathing became ragged as she dashed towards the water, stopping just inches from the still water that reflected the night sky.

Without warning, without noticing she let out a heartfelt cry that was soon drowned out by the sounds of the night. She held her clothes tightly to her chest. The hot tears poured out, rippling in the water where they fell in. _What did he leave you with? A dying wish and nothing more… now look where you are. First your brother leaves you to tend the lands yourself then your mother leaves you to care for your father yourself and now your father has left you with his job with no inheritance, no land, not even his ka._ What was the point of all this? Why was she serving the royal family? She could say all she wanted how much she liked the Prince, Taira, Mahad and whoever but what was the point in serving them when there literally was little incentive for her? She left Mallawi to start anew, yes, to get away from Ata and all the pain of that place but she had left Skylar, Nakia, Issar and Zaim behind. She had concluded her dream of being a court magician doomed for the dying wish of her father… and all for what?

"Stupid, stupid, you're so stupid!" she shouted to no one as she picked up a rock and threw it with all her might into the canals. It made no difference to the water that ate it up like a ravenous dog in one gulp. In all her sorrow and fury, she picked up rock and sand and whatever else was on the ground, dropping her clothes and spit firing rock after rock into the canal, hoping to damage it like some wall or tree.

Alas though, liquids weren't solids and liquids drank up more things than creatures did them. No matter the rock, the gravel and sand, the water lapped it up, swallowed it and devoured every stone's throw and whatever came its way. It only served to make her angrier, she picked up a rock as big as her head and hefted it above her, staggering to stay grounded as she tried to swing it into the water until someone grabbed her arms from behind to steady her and assumingly take her rock which made her scream shrilly like a mother trying hard to protect her baby.

"It's me!" Bakura said, successfully stealing her rock and spinning her around. "What's gotten into you?" He gave her a glare which made her lower her head in shame.

Her breathing was short and her heart was racing in anger and fear and oh! She buried her face in his chest, crying loudly and clutching his tunic. She heard the thud of the rock as he dropped it and rubbed her back.

"What is happening over there that I have to keep finding you crying home and making a fit? What did someone say now?" he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her arm's length away from him.

"W—what?" she sniffled, wiping her eyes. "I—it's just…this isn't how I imagined my life and every time I think I know so—something, I don't."

He didn't look like he understood. But if he didn't, he defiantly did not want to understand as he made no attempt to ask what was going on. "So make your life something you want."

If hearts had strings, hers snapped and recoiled, smacking right into her chest and igniting it in fire. "You act like I've never tried! I wanted to be a court magician! I wanted to be with my family! I still want my flock back! And I want a more beautiful ka! And now I want the Time Wizard in _my_ shrine of Wedju!" she was shouting now, and frankly, could care less if anyone heard her. "I don't want to serve the Queen, I want to go somewhere where there are no soldiers, no one to patronize me and I'm tired of riding two hours to and from work!"

Now she was just sounding like a brat. Whether those were her true feelings or not, she didn't know, all she knew was that her tears were spilling out again and her ragged breathing turned to loud hiccups that echoed in the night.

Bakura rubbed his temples like listening to his wife's whinnying was the worst thing possible and maybe it was. "I'm your family and you're already with me. You're basically a magician. No, you're not getting your smelly sheep back. Your ka's not going to change because _you_ want it to and what is this about the Time Wizard? You're the one who wanted to fulfil your father's dying wish, why are you barking about it now? You want to quit. Fine. I'm not going to stop you, but I'm not going back to Mallawi. I got you the damn house because you wanted a place near work. Now you just want to be an ingrate?"

He wasn't helping at all. Was this his idea of comforting? She might as well have whined to Set about her problems. "You're horrible!"

He gave an exasperated sigh and brought her to his chest, patting her awkwardly on the back. "Is that better?"

"No…"

"By the gods," he growled. "What is your problem?"

Sniffling, she took a moment before replying, listening to the silent night. "I was practicing dueling and I f—found out th—that the Queen was given my… father's ka!" she wept, letting her tears stain his clothes and using his tunic to wipe her eyes. He didn't seem to like that. "Didn't he know how much I loved him? How much I would miss him? Wouldn't it be more reasonable to give his ka to his daughter?"

"So why not just take it?"

Sometimes she wondered if she overcomplicated things or if Bakura lived off of simplicity. She smacked his chest and tore herself away from him, angry at his absurd suggestion. If she stole from the Queen, she would be executed and it wasn't like she could just march in the Queen's Shrine and take a whole tablet and move it, to what, her own? And she definitely wouldn't ask the Queen for her father's ka that was instigating suspicion which could have her thrown in jail or executed!

She stormed into the canals, stripping off her dress and underwear. "You're lousy at comforting. Why can't you be more like…like," it took her a while to think of a name but in the end she decided there was only one decent man she had come to know, "Mahad!"

"Mahad!" Bakura exclaimed before making an irritating noise from his throat. "It's becoming increasingly insulting to hear that name."

"Hmph!" she vigorously scrubbed her body, angry at the world and him. She needed to find a solution to her anger, find a way to make things right but she was coming up blank. She felt his warm hands placed on her waist. "Go away!"

"Why not duel for it? They can't execute you for winning a duel if they agreed to it? I don't understand why you always have to make a big deal out of everything."

Dueling for her father's ka… it seemed simple and yet possibly effective and yet not possible at all. She turned towards him, rippling the water around them. "I'm not good at dueling."

"What?"

It was embarrassing to admit it, but yes, she really was bad at dueling. Her duel with Halima and the Prince proved to her that she had little control over her ka. When she had faced Ata's lackeys, her ka had magically listened to her commands and yet that was a life and death situation, now whenever she wasn't actually in danger, the Witch wouldn't be controlled. She would obviously fail.

"How can you not be good in dueling?" he narrowed his eyes at her. She wasn't sure if he was saying dueling was easy and basically insulting her or if he was trying to say she was good at it and she was belittling herself. He cupped her face in his hands and brought his forehead against hers, "Tomorrow we will work on your dueling."

"Really?" she asked, grabbing one of his hands.

"On one condition," he moved away from her and regarded her angrily. "Stop mentioning this Mahad!"

"Oh!" she turned away from him, looking at the dark water before cupping it in her hands and watching it slip pass the gaps of her fingers. "Bakura… there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

She felt the cold water fall upon her head as her red hair became clumped together, sticking to her body and droplets of watering running down the length of her. She turned her head to Bakura who was pouring water on her with his hands. "You remember Maat, my friend we met?"

"Oh, her," Bakura frowned as if he didn't like the idea of remembering one of Meskhenet's friends. "She was rather loud."

"Yes, well… she made me remember something about what I wanted when I was a child."

"Your sheep," he stated, moving her hair behind her and wrapping his arms around her.

"Hah hah, no," Meskhenet leaned her head back on his chest. "I once wanted a title, a magician title."

"What's that?"

She sometimes wished Bakura was smarter about other things than the street life. She didn't always want to explain everything when she wasn't in the mood for it especially now with her heart still bubbling in acid. "Have you heard of the Dark Magician?"

"No."

She blinked. Maybe the Dark Magician was too recent. Thinking hard, she said, "the Gaiety Magician?" No response, she looked up to see if Bakura was registering any of those titles, "Star Magician? Sun Magician? Magician of Embers? The Silent Magician? Dear Ra, Bakura!"

He let go of her, looking offended. "Are these names supposed to mean something to me?"

"Yes! Bakura, these are famous magicians! Tahir is one of the greatest magicians ever and currently in recent times, the Dark Magician is the most powerful magician at a young age."

"There are only two magicians I give a damn for: you and that snake sorcerer whom I want to feed to my ka just so I can laugh about his name."

She hadn't known he felt that way. It was a little cruel to hear him say that, but she had to admit she didn't really care about Apep, hopefully he died somewhere long ago. "Well, the point is an actual magician is one who has completed his training and gained a title. They can get apprentices and join the Court or even become the Pharaoh's court magician."

"You're asking for permission. Well, of course you can get a title," he smirked at her.

"Oh gods, Bakura, no," she shot him a look. "I'm not asking for _permission._ I'm telling you I…I want to get one."

"Then get one."

"Can you let me finish?!" she snapped, pouting a little. She let out a sigh, "Getting a title means going to the Court of Magicians and well, there's some trials one has to do. I'm not entirely sure of the details but it's a long process. The shortest time ever done was two weeks by the Dark Magician and the longest was…" she paused and glanced down as Bakura looked at her expectantly, "Five years."

"Five years?" Bakura repeated, "How long did your master take it for?"

"I never asked…"

There was a pause of silence between them that she knew he was taking in what she said, thinking of whether she should do it or not. Even though she wasn't asking for permission, she didn't want to be apart from him and wanted to hear his answer to see whether or not he was alright with waiting for her to return, to give her his support—oh, gods, it simply could be put as permission. She had to try and convince herself to go even if he wasn't going to support her, but her heart ached at the thought.

"Two months," he suddenly said, eyeing her. "That's the most time I'm giving you."

No words needed to be spoken as she took hold of his face, leaning upwards on her toes and planting a kiss on his lips. He grabbed her waist and kissed her deeply before she felt him and pulled away a little, a tear falling down her face. "Bakura…"

"I need to get as much time in with you as possible," he smirked, wiping her tear.

She felt like her heart was gushing blood in agony and in sadness and yet consideration all at once. It was going to explode in her chest if she didn't sort out all the feelings within. "I'm not leaving now…" she tried telling him and her heart.

"Still…" he kissed her again, dragging her close to his body, "Better to start now than to miss my chance." The cold canal waters didn't feel so cold anymore with her body heating up and the warmth of his.

* * *

"Ahhhh!" she screamed as she was thrown onto her back while Bakura laughed at her; the dirt and pebbles scrapping against her and getting entangled in her hair as she coughed.

Diabound, now not so little anymore, coiled between the couple with the Black Witch regaining its composure in midair while Diabound hissed apologetically. Meskhenet turned onto her stomach, coughing some more as she struggled to get up. Gods, her ka was weak, she felt like her body was going to explode just from a blast from Diabound. It was like electricity was coursing through her blood, sending little jolts here and there.

"I barely attacked you," Bakura sat down from where he stood. "You couldn't possibly be that hurt." She said nothing, trying to find the strength to stand. From her silence, he must've gotten concerned because he peer passed Diabound's body, "Khenet?"

"Barely is a…misleading word," she staggered to her feet, turning to her ka and glaring at the dark roped figure. "I feel like…" she shuddered as a little jolt went through her, "I'm going to die." She groaned.

"Perhaps I should find you an opponent your level," he crossed his arms. He was wearing a light brown tunic over a black shendyt while she had dressed up in her brown hooded robe that was now covered in dirt and grass from the Nile's banks. "Someone weaker…"

"Oh, he admits it," she covered her face with her hands.

He didn't bother to deny it either if he heard her but he seemed preoccupied in thought. "Perhaps I should ask Magda…"

"I don't want Magda to help me!" she shouted to him, "I want you!"

"Yes, but what happens if I defeat your ka? Diabound will gain the Black Witch's powers and that could kill you. What exactly is your ka's power?"

"Argh!" Meskhenet turned to her ka and pointed at Diabound. The Black Witch raised its staff in the air and a wind appeared, gathering into a greenish sphere before it went flying straight into the poor winged snake that was thrown into the air before tumbling behind Bakura who clutched his chest in pain. "Hah!"

"You…" he grumbled something that she could've sworn he called her a bitch which did nothing but make her angrier. "Diabound, Helical Shockwave!" the winged snake slithered passed Bakura, and looking very sad, drooped its wings before he raised his head and a yellow sphere formed in front of it, growing slightly larger before it extended into a streamline of a blast, spiraled with a golden aura, heading right for the Black Witch.

"Defend yourself!" she shouted to her ka. Unfortunately, her ka neither listened to her or even moved so the attack hit it directly, sending the Witch further away, spiraling in the air and Meskhenet doubled over in pain.

Diabound stopped the attack and curled himself into a ball while Bakura shouted some command that Meskhenet was deaf to as a loud ringing was playing in her head. The pain of duels were horrible, it was like her soul was being violently ripped from her body and then shook by an unforeseen force before being ripped again. She groaned as she fell on her knees.

"Stupid ka…"

The white snake slithered over to her, placing his head in her laps and looking at her with his violet eyes. He seemed to be apologizing for the attack. _At least someone is more considerate than others._ She shot a glare at her husband before petting the snake's cold head.

"Diabound, stop that! Stop fraternizing with the enemy," Bakura ordered, standing up and walking over to her and his ka.

"Enemy! Hmph, I'll be glad to go to the Court of Magicians! At least I won't have to see you!" she tried to stand, but ended up falling on her rear. She grabbed a fistful of grass and threw it at Bakura only for it to fall onto Diabound that shook his head in annoyance. "I guess I'll go and ask Mahad to help me instead."

"Mahad this, Mahad that! Why didn't you just marry Mahad?!" Bakura stormed away. Diabound soon disappeared in sparkles, leaving Meskhenet alone on the Nile banks with her mindless ka floating over to her.

Maybe she was being too hard on Bakura. It wasn't fair to him to keep comparing Mahad and him, and it definitely wasn't fair to Mahad to bring him in and have Bakura hate him for no reason. Sighing in defeat, she knew she had to apologize to her husband but she was so frustrated with him and everything. Looking at her ka, she glared at it, perhaps the trials of the magician would help her find peace with her ka, at least she hoped.

"Bakura, wait!" she called, getting up and dusting her rear before she ran across the grassy banks, trying to catch up to Bakura. "Wait!" He didn't even bother to turn to her; he just kept walking towards Deir El-Medina. "I'm sorry! Please, wait…" after chasing him for quite a while, she started to slow down, panting heavily from the wear of the short battle. "Bakura!"

"Damn, woman, what is it?!" he turned to her to see her bent over her knees. He stopped and waited for her to catch her breath, looking at her angrily. After some minutes, she came towards him with her hands behind her back.

"I want to offer a truce," she tried, playfully.

"I'm not interested." He turned away from her, making her frown.

"Then I offer a complete apology and a… reward!"

He was silent as she skipped over to match his pace. "You have nothing you can offer me."

"Food… service," she tried, he didn't stop. "Sex?" he still didn't reply to her. "Bakura! Please!" she stopped, feeling like her last support she had pushed too far that now he wasn't coming back. She slowly followed him in glum and sadness, wondering what she could do to make it up to him. Oh! She had a brilliant plan! If Neith and Seth were the only ones to join his band of thieves, then she would go recruit some more for him! Then he would forgive her because she had done something for him and then she'd make him a large feast with nothing but his favorites! She giggled to herself and skipped ahead of him. "I'll be back later!"

Going from the Nile to Deir El-Medina without a horse and just having taken a beating from a white snake was a bad idea as Meskhenet soon found out. Her energy was continuously depleted so she had to take multiple breaks. She felt like her lungs were being squeezed by a fist which left a searing pain in her chest. Gods, she would remember not to leave Deir El-Medina without Bakari. Thankfully, she didn't have far to go as there were people laughing and chatting in the distances, signaling her that she was near home.

 _Where would a thief go?_ She needed to find some cutthroats and vicious people with just the right motivations to follow a handsome young thief. That seemed hard, she didn't know of any places a thief would go besides tombs, treasuries, bars and well, the brothel. Oh, she realized there was that town where Bakura had placed his hideout though she suspected they already tried there.

The bar was the first place she would try. She prepared herself for the smell of beer and wine and loud noises and just like that, she found herself in the doorway of the bar, straight across from the counter with stools for people to chat up the bartender while the rest of the lot were gathered in small or large groups around round tables, laughing, flirting and even whispering—some were to say, getting close to what Meskhenet recognized as coitus. She spotted a man with a blue scarf and remembered seeing it before. He was someone Ahmed was looking for, so maybe he was dangerous or a really good thief.

She approached him, mustering her courage and trying to think how to get him to join Bakura. As she got closer to the man sitting at the counters by himself, sipping a cup of beer she saw the side of his face. He was older than Magda and Bakura, probably a few years older than Zaim with scars decorating his rough looking face and hands. His black hair pulled into a thin ponytail while his blue scarf covered more scars. She wouldn't be surprised if he had more scars under his brown robe. He looked mean like he could gut a fish and eat it raw.

Suddenly, she didn't want to approach him anymore. Rather, she stopped in the middle between tables where everyone was chatting, gambling and making out. Ugh, what was she doing here? She came here in the spur of the moment, wanting to make Bakura happy but hadn't actually planned anything.

"Looking for somethin'?" a voice spoke to her, snapping her out of her thoughts as she looked up and to her horror and surprise, the scarred man had spoken to her. He had his body turned to her, still drinking his beer. Something about his eyes scared her, she couldn't figure out why.

"Um…"

"You're here alone which is uncommon for you. You're usually here with that man with the white hair," he was eying her in a way that made her uncomfortable. Not like he was taking an interest in her in a perverted way, no, it was almost like he was someone hollow trying to absorb the emotions and liveliness of another. That's what scared her! His brown eyes were hollow, dark and clouded like this man had no reason to live anymore and he was merely wandering the earth as if some cruel punishment from the gods.

She hugged herself and merely nodded. "I was just…scouting."

He lingered his gaze on her, before finishing his beer and signaling for another. "You're his lover, right? Of this Thief King or whatever name he's going by, sending out the fool with the weird speech to recruit thieves."

 _Oh…he knows…_ she didn't respond, not sure what this man's intent was.

"Can you tell me something," he slammed his new cup down after taking a long sip. "What exactly is he hoping to accomplish with a band of thieves? These things usually don't end well and seeing how he looks, he looks quite young."

"He has plans," she merely stated, looking to the door at her back, thinking for sure coming here was not a good idea at all. She shuffled awkwardly a little before meeting the man's eyes again.

"He didn't tell you," the man observed.

It stung for her to hear that, probably because it was true. She resisted the urge from throwing an insult and merely shifted her weight onto one foot. "He needs good thieves, people who will be loyal to a cause if not to him." She tried changing the subject. "Judging from all your scars it could mean your experience or clumsy enough to get caught and tortured."

The man laughed an odd sound that vibrated against the loud bar, almost drowned out into nothingness. "These scars are what you get for crimes so devious that you have to be punished. If a thief has no scars then you're out of luck, he ain't no thief, just a petty wannabe."

She thought about it. Bakura definitely had some scars on his body, but compared to this man, not as many. He definitely was quick, a lot quicker than most. "So why are you interested in the Thief King?"

"I never said I was interested."

"You certainly did when you started asking about him."

The man chuckled before chugging his beer down. "I suppose I did…"

She slowly moved back, in case she needed to run, just a few inches so the man wouldn't notice. "So are you going to join?" He didn't respond, only glanced at her. "If you're looking for shelter to hid—"

"I'm not interested," the man cut her off before she could say anymore. He turned away and took her by surprise as he began signaling the bartender for more beer.

She didn't come here for nothing; the soldiers were clearly looking for this man so he must've been good. And Bakura deserved the best so she was going to get him the best. "You cannot not be interested. I mean there are plenty of benefits for two thieves to acquaint with one another." The man snorted at her comment. "You could share the findings, look out for one another, reap whatever use you could out of each other…" she wasn't quite sure where she was going because she definitely didn't actually believe thieves working together was beneficious especially because of Zaabit, and if a child Bakura could kill that man than certainly a grown one might come after _him_. _No, you have to trust him. Him and Diabound…_ "It'll be worth your interest."

"I highly doubt that. Go back home, I'm done talking."

She couldn't take that for an answer. She needed to find a way to get this man to join Bakura's band. Looking around, she saw many people laughing together or solemnly drinking by themselves, some looked like they were going to start a fight with one another and others were flirting and chatting up pretty women. One conversation, however, caught her attention.

"You want it that badly?" A man laughed, "You'll have to win it!"

"Then I challenge you to a shadow game!" another man shouted through the voices of the bar.

 _That's it!_ "I challenge you," she blurted out as the scarred face turned to her with an angry scowl, "To a shadow game…"

The man paused in his actions, deep in thought, "And what is it you're purposing?"

"I just said, I challenge you to a shadow game," she gulped, knowing her ka wasn't strong enough yet, "If I win… you join the Thief King's band of thieves and do whatever he asks of you—and you do not hurt him. Ever."

His expression was turning pretty angry, and that told her she was pressing her luck but suddenly he eyed her before his scowl disappeared, replaced with a look of wonder. "If I win, your Thief King hands me all his gold, his horses and," he paused for effect. "His child."

She was taken by surprise, he was asking for a lot and now he was sweetening his own deal by adding a child that didn't exist. "I don't have—he—we don't have children," she stammered.

"I know. But when you do, you will give him or her to me," he started. "It's that or I'm out."

Her heart raced, not sure what to do but in a moment of panic, she stuck her hand out, sensing his interest fading. "Deal."

He smirked and took her hand, "Deal."

* * *

Author's Note: I apologize for the long awaited chapter and if it wasn't anything special. I didn't really like this chapter honestly, in particularly the end of it. But its still a Yu-Gi-Oh! story and therefore some, if not all, of our issues should be dealt with a shadow game/duel. I really can't believe it's been a year since the last time I updated. I never meant to take that long. I actually have chapters done, they just need editing.

I want to sincerely thank everyone who has favorite, followed and reviewed this story. It really means a lot, and when I have more time I will reply to thank each and everyone personally. Even if there is a criticism, I appreciate it too, because I cannot grow as a writer without others pointing out my flaws when I have some. So thank you, everyone! :)

Next chapter is going to be the first of the tournament in Thebes!


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